Reforço Informativo de Localidades Turísticas: Comparação de Medidas Obtidas com dois Instrumentos de Mensuração

Abstract

Specialized way of studying consumer behavior in Psychology is through the analyticbehavioral approach. In this approach, consumer behavior is a behavioral process learned according to the principles of operant learning, being, in the interactions of the consumer with the environment, the variables that originate and keep consuming. Relevant events reside in two categories, these in turn subdivided, each, into two subcategories. Consistent events can be reinforcing or punitive, and in either case they may be utilitarian or informative. Utility reinforcements are consequences defined by utility gains relating to the practical resolution of problems by properties of the product or service purchased. Informational reinforcements are socially (verbal) mediated consequences, defined by gains in the social image of the consumer by the acquisition of the product or service. The measurement of the information level is the central interest of the present study. In the literature, the measurement of informative reinforcement has taken place almost exclusively in a single form, called MCQ (Measure of Knowledge and Quality). The general knowledge about the product or service (or brand) and the evaluation of the general quality of the product or service (or brand) by the consumer has been the quantified dimensions, notwithstanding the conceptual relation of the "knowledge" and "quality" as has been used in measuring instruments, does not express a clear relation to the notion of "mediation of verbal reinforcements". Given the lack of systematic comparisons of the measures of informative reinforcement in the literature on empirical investigations of consumer behavior guided by the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM), the present study aimed at systematically comparing values of informative reinforcement of tourist locations generated with the Knowledge and Quality Measure (MCQ) with informative reinforcement values generated by the instrument Social Consumption Impact Measure (MISC), a tool inspired by the questionnaire used by Cardoso (2012). The results showed that the instruments generate a different response. By means of reliability tests, it is clear that the internal consistency of the MISC is superior to that of the MCQ for all the studied localities. The findings provide support for discussion of the empirical validation of Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) concepts and for managerial action and tourism marketing strategies based on the model.