Determinants of customer intention for sustainable tourism packages in Thailand using rough set-fuzzy theory

Economic growth is largely driven by tourism, and sustainable tourism practices are receiving more and more attention as a means of protecting cultural and environmental resources. This research fills a critical gap in the literature by combining fuzzy logic and RST in tourism research to model customer behavior under uncertainty. By utilizing a hybrid approach that incorporates Rough Set Theory (RST), Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM), and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The theoretical framework combines RST for managing uncertainty with FDM to refine expert consensus, facilitating robust variable selection in ambiguous conditions. During the qualitative phase, input from ۲۱ experts in tourism, marketing, and academia was analyzed using the hybrid Rough Set–Fuzzy Delphi (RSFD) model to identify key variables. In the quantitative phase, a structured survey was administered to ۸۵۰ participants, selected through simple random sampling and distributed through social media to validate the constructs through CFA. The results revealed seven determinants of Sustainable Purchase Intention (SPI): Positive Impacts (PIT), Perceived Service Quality (PSQ), Electronic Word-Of-Mouth (E-WOM), motivation, satisfaction, loyalty, and destination image. Among these, satisfaction emerged as the most influential factor, as demonstrated by a high factor loading (۰.۹۶) and R² value (۰.۹۳) in the second-order CFA, thus methodologically justifying its prominence. The proposed framework offers practical insights for tour operators and policymakers to enhance sustainability-driven marketing strategies and customer engagement within Thailand’s domestic tourism sector.

کلیدواژه ها:

Sustainable Tourism ، Rough Set-Fuzzy Delphi ، Rough set–fuzzy ، destination image ، Satisfaction