Discriminant analysis

Discriminant analysis, also called “discriminant function analysis,” is a multivariate technique aimed at determining the affinity of a statistical unit (the tourist) to one or more selected groups, according to the value it takes on a number of quantitative variables (age, country of origin, length of stay, and the like). The main scope of its application is to examine differences between one or more predetermined groups of individuals with respect to several variables simultaneously and to predict the likelihood that a case belongs to a group. Since groups have been defined a priori, according to a splitting criterion, this technique can also be used to validate the results of a cluster analysis and to classify other individuals.

In tourism research, this is one of the approaches commonly applied to market segmentation. It has been used, for example, to understand which groups of tourists have similar needs or intentions regarding a product or destination (Dolnicar and Kemp 2009),...