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Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

Abstract

This study attempts to analyze the dimensions of the night market visit experience of international tourists. Based on a two-step analysis of 13,833 Google review comments collected for the nine most popular night markets in Phuket, two key dimensions—market experience and food experience—were identified. Overall, the tourists were highly satisfied with their night market experiences. The results of machine learning analysis using the KNIME analytics platform indicate that the market experience dimension was more positive in valence and higher in salience than the food experience dimension. In addition, food was found to be the most important component in both market experience and food experience dimensions. The content analysis results of both positive and negative reviews show factors that determine tourist satisfaction, including a variety of food and stores, affordable prices, and a pleasurable atmosphere. On the other hand, factors being of serious concern to tourists were also identified and are discussed, most of which relate to the food experience dimension, including food hygiene, staff attitude, and overcharging.

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