Explaining Satisfaction in Time-Constrained Cruise Port Environments: A Quantitative Text Analysis Using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC)

Abstract

Cruise port of calls serve as entry points into destinations. Although the duration is brief, satisfaction with the port experience plays a critical role in shaping the overall cruise experience. This study examines the determinants of tourist satisfaction in cruise port using LIWC software to quantify text and undertake a linguistic analysis of 8,845 Google Maps reviews from random Caribbean cruise ports. The study employs multiple regression to investigate the effects of ten factors on satisfaction. The findings reveal that positive emotion is the strongest predictor of satisfaction, highlighting the importance of cruiser emotions, even in short-duration experiences. Leisure activity and exploration also contribute positively, indicating that low-effort enjoyment and novelty enhance the experience. In contrast, cultural content, gastronomy, and mobility exhibit inverse effects, suggesting that cognitively demanding, effort-intensive, or frictionladen experiences diminish satisfaction. The findings contribute to the cruise tourism literature by demonstrating that the influence of experiential dimensions on visitor satisfaction is context dependent and shaped by the temporal and operational characteristics of port-of-call environments.