A Comparison of Leisure Styles in Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Spain and Portugal

Analysis of European leisure consumption patterns over the past few decades reveals that social criteria-economic, demographic, and even behavioral-fail to explain observations well. By contrast, an analytical approach which employs psychographic criteria (i.e., consumer lifestyles and personalities which are reflected in people's values, activities, interests, and opinions) provides a great deal of valuable information on consumer behavior. This information is of inestimable value when it comes to planning and marketing tourism/leisure products and destinations. This study is based on the hypothesis that certain values are common to consumer groups which strongly influence their buying decisions.