Determination of tourist perceptions in outdoor recreation marketing: A scale development study based on mixed methods research

The starting point of the study is that there is no study in the literature that relates marketing mix elements to outdoor recreation and no scale that investigates tourist perceptions towards recreation or outdoor recreation marketing. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine how tourism decision-makers and managers market outdoor recreation, which is an important attraction factor for destinations, in terms of expanded marketing mix elements (7Ps), to reveal tourists' perceptions of related marketing efforts, and to develop the Perceived Outdoor Recreation Marketing Scale. This study, which was conducted with an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design, has four main stages. These are listed as follows: (1) Qualitative research: Extended marketing mix strategies for outdoor recreation were identified through semi-structured interviews and content analysis, (2) Connection: The themes, categories, and codes obtained as a result of content analysis were transformed into scale items and presented to expert opinions, (3) Quantitative research: The scale designed in line with expert opinions was first subjected to pilot study and exploratory factor analysis, then to main study and confirmatory factor analysis, (4) Integration: The findings of qualitative and quantitative data analyses were integrated and presented. As a result of these stages, the Perceived Outdoor Recreation Marketing Scale, which consists of 27 items and seven sub-dimensions, was introduced to the literature as a valid and reliable measurement tool.