Assessing technology adoption practices in Chinese theme parks: text mining and sentiment analysis

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine technology adoption practices in Chinese theme parks by leveraging text mining and sentiment analysis approaches on actual theme park customers’ online reviews. Design/methodology/approach The study text mined a total of 65,518 reviews of 490 Chinese theme parks with the aid of the Python program. Further, it computed sentiment scores of the customer reviews associated with the ratings of each categorized technology practice applied in the theme parks. Findings The study identified two major categories of technology applications in theme parks: supporting and experiential technologies. Multiple statistical tests confirmed that supporting technologies consisted of three types: intelligent services, ticketing and in-park transportation. Experiential technologies further included five aspects of technologies according to Schmitt’s strategic experiential modules (SEMs): sense, feel, act, think and relate. Originality/value The study findings contribute to the current understanding of theme park visitors’ perceptions of technology adoption practices and provide insightful implications for theme park practitioners who intend to invest in high technology solutions to deliver a better customer experience.