Examining Chinese College Students’ Intention to Travel to Japan Using the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior: Testing Destination Image and the Mediating Role of Travel Constraints

Understanding the decision-making process and predicting travel behavior are critical for destination tourism marketers. This study develops and tests a structural equation model using the extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain Chinese college students’ intention to travel to Japan. Ten hypotheses were proposed regarding the relationships between destination image, travel constraints, and the original TPB constructs. The results of structural analyses reveal that the extended TPB has better predictive power for travel intention to Japan than the original one. Attitude is found to have the greatest impact on intention to travel to Japan. The mediating role of travel constraints shows a significantly negative effect on the relationships between the predictors and travel intention except for the relationship between perceived behavioral control and travel intention. The results of this study can help improve marketing promotions and the development of more effective destination positioning strategies for Japanese inbound tourism.     

Emotional intelligence and adaptability – Service encounters between casino hosts and premium players

The premium player segment has been widely acknowledged as the largest single contributor to casino revenues. So-called casino hosts are an important influence on player perceptions of service quality and ultimately on loyalty and casino profitability in their capacity as service representatives servicing this segment. To date little research has investigated the relationship between casino hosts and premium players. This study focused on service encounters between casino hosts and premium players, particularly in the case of relationships between emotional intelligence, adaptability and the service performance of casino hosts. A mediation model involving these constructs was proposed and tested, drawing upon theory and the relationship that has been established between basic personality traits and surface traits. In the current study emotional intelligence was identified as a basic personality trait, and adaptability is viewed as a surface trait. The results arising from a structural equation analysis confirmed the validity of the mediation model and found that the inclusion of adaptability as a mediator into the relationship between emotional intelligence and service performance provided a greater proportion of variance than a model which excluded mediation. Based on the research findings implications for researchers and practitioners were outlined.     

Testing the effects of congruity, travel constraints, and self-efficacy on travel intentions: An alternative decision-making model

Travel decision making has been extensively studied. Various models and theories have been proposed to explain tourist behavior. Taking a new approach, this study applied the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model to explain travel intentions. The MOA model suggests that motivation, opportunity, and ability are major factors influencing travel intentions. This study explored the role of self-congruity, functional congruity, perceived travel constraints, constraint negotiation, and self-efficacy on travel intentions.The proposed model and hypotheses were tested in the context of cruise tourism. An online panel survey was conducted with cruisers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test both the proposed model and hypothesized relationships among the constructs. All hypotheses except one were supported by the data. The proposed model also had an acceptable fit to the data.     

A Path Analytic Model of Visitation Intention Involving Information Sources,Socio-Psychological Motivations,and Destination Image

Abstract

This study develops and tests a model to examine the organization of informational, motivational, and mental constructs on visitation intention in a path analytic framework. The findings indicated that variety (amount) and type of information sources used and socio-psychological travel motivations determine travelers' perceptual/cognitive evaluations that, in turn, form their affection (feelings) about tourist destinations. A traveler's intent to visit, then, is determined by a combination of perceptual/cognitive and affective evaluations, information sources used, and travel motivations. However, destination image (cognition and affect) appeared to mediate the relationship between visitation intention and stimuli (information sources) and consumer factors (socio-psychological travel motivations). Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed and future research areas are suggested to better understand travelers' destination selection process.     

Tourism destination decisions: the impact of risk aversion and prior experience

This study broadly explores the impact of risk aversion on tourists' destination decisions and, in particular, explores for differences in individuals' leisure and medical tourism destination decisions. The results of this study indicate that risk aversion significantly distinguishes tourists' destination decisions in both leisure and medical tourism in Indonesia, but not in Singapore. All risk-averse groups are less likely to visit Indonesia than Singapore for leisure and medical purposes. By contrast, all risk-averse groups are likely to visit Singapore for leisure purposes, although they remain unlikely to travel to Singapore for medical tourism. In addition, the study found that the impact of prior experience on the likelihood that the two risk-averse groups will travel to Indonesia and Singapore for leisure was significant. Conversely, the effects of prior experience on medical tourism generally do not significantly differ between the two countries.     

Estimating the recreational value of Pakistan's largest freshwater lake to support sustainable tourism management using a travel cost model

Keenjhar Lake, Pakistan's largest freshwater lake and an important Ramsar site, provides habitat for internationally important water birds. Annually, 385,000 people visit the lake. The lake is threatened by a variety of causes, including industrial and agricultural pollution. To support its sustainable management and conservation, the lake's recreational value is estimated using an individual travel cost model. Randomly selected visitors are interviewed during peak season about their recreational travel behavior and perception of lake conditions. Key issues in travel cost modeling are addressed, including the opportunity cost of time, group travel, substitution and income effects, and endogenous stratification and truncation due to on-site sampling. Poisson and negative binomial regression models produce similar results. We find significant over-dispersion, and therefore, use the more conservative truncated negative binomial model results to estimate consumer surplus. The value of this assessment method for resource managers is illustrated by comparing the consumer surplus with existing pricing and budgeting mechanisms. The annual flow of benefits from lake recreation appears to be almost 50 times higher than the average entrance fee paid by the predominantly higher-income segments visiting the lake, suggesting scope for increasing fees and reallocating government budgets to finance the necessary lake protection measures.     

A research note exploring socially visible consumption in tourism

The present study was conducted in the context of the political tensions between Turkey and Israel. The main objective of the present research note is to examine the relationship between consumer animosity and socially-visible consumption; although two salient constructs in the consumer behaviour stream of research, the relationship between them has not been examined in previous research. The mall-intercept method was employed to collect data from a sample of 208 respondents. SPSS's AMOS software was employed to test the construct validity of the scale items. Pearson correlations and independent sample T-tests were conducted to explore the relationships between the study variables. Results suggest that the relationships between socially visible consumption and consumer animosity is moderated by travellers' willingness to holiday in a socially visible fashion. Future research should focus on other potential moderators of the relationship between animosity and tourism behaviour such as risk perception.     

旅行社承包挂靠问题的诱因分析与法律规制

改革开放30多年旅游业发展进程中,旅行社行业普遍存在的承包挂靠经营成为严重扰乱旅游市场秩序且难以彻底整治的顽症.为了进一步提升旅游市场质量和秩序,充分保护旅游者的合法权益,这一问题需要我们采取有效对策加以解决.文章通过对我国旅行社承包挂靠现实状态的调查,从历史根源、外力影响、内力驱动及市场主体间的逻辑关系等几个方面分析了这一问题产生的主要诱因,并结合我国旅游法治建设的进程,从疏、堵、压三个维度提出了相应的法律规制措施,认为以疏导为主的规范、激励措施及有效的市场执法的结合是根治这一难题的基本出路.     

Tourist expertise and pre-travel value co-creation: Task-related processes and beyond

Our knowledge of how tourists could co-create value in the pre-travel stage is limited. This should be particularly worrying for tourism providers, as they could gain competitive advantage by improving their understanding of these processes and responding accordingly. Based on service-dominant logic, this study explores this gap in research by identifying three value co-creation processes that occur before a trip (travel organization, information seeking, and mental time travel) and examining the contribution of tourist expertise on each of these processes. Although previous studies tend to assimilate co-creation with “tasks,” this study focuses on mental time travel, which is the only pre-travel value co-creation process that contributes value to the consumer without involving costs. An empirical study with 984 French and Spanish tourists was conducted, the results of which corroborate the particular salience of expertise predicted by service-dominant logic.     

Morning larks travel more than night owls? Chronotypical effect on travel frequency through novelty seeking

Chronotype is a characterization of people's propensity to sleep at a particular time, spanning a spectrum from the two extremes of “morning larks,” who go to sleep early and rise early, and “evening owls,” who go to sleep late and rise late. We study the relationship between chronotype and the tendency to seek novelty in travel preference. Surprisingly, in contrast to the case of domain-general novelty seeking, morning larks are more domain-specific in their novelty seeking than night owls in relation to travel. To test the significance of this finding, we explore the downstream behavioral consequences of the tendency to be novelty seeking. Travel frequency for leisure is found to increase with novelty seeking. In addition, chronotype has an indirect effect on travel frequency through its influence on novelty seeking—a mediation relationship moderated by gender, with the effect of chronotype on novelty seeking especially strong among young females.     

A comparative assessment of destination image,travel risk perceptions and travel intention by young travellers across three ASEAN countries: a study of German students

This paper seeks to offer a comparative assessment of destination image and travel risk as perceived by young German travellers across three ASEAN countries, namely Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In addition, effects of destination image and travel risk perception on intention to visit are evaluated. The results are drawn based on an online survey of 281 German university students who have recently travelled long-haul, each offering their perceptions of the three countries for analysis. It was found that destination image and travel risk perceptions vary across the studied destinations. Furthermore, destination image factors are discovered to display much stronger relationships with travel intention than the risk factors. The results reveal that travel risk perceptions only had some influence on visit intentions in Vietnam, which is perceived to have higher degrees of risk. Moreover, the relationship between tourist role and destination choice was confirmed.     

关于旅游合同示范文本的法律思考

旅游合同示范文本由旅游局和工商局联合制定推广,性质上属行政指导,具有效率、安全、优先及补充等法律价值,示范文本条款分四大功能模块,由通用条款和协议条款组成。目前示范文本是多级制定,种类单一,权威性不高,文章提出完善和丰富示范文本种类和内容、统一示范文本和示范文本备案豁免等建议,以提升旅行社使用示范文本的积极性,发挥示范文本的作用。     

More is better? The influencing of user involvement on user loyalty in online travel community

Since user stickiness is low in most online communities due to user easy transferability, assessing the influence of user involvement on user loyalty is paramount. Using an online travel community and a four-level consumer cognitive structure model as a theoretical basis, this study combines semi-structured interviews and scenario-based questionnaires to investigate this relationship. Results suggest that breadth of involvement has an inverted U-curve effect on user loyalty, while depth of involvement has a positive influence. Sense of virtual community both moderates and mediates the relationship between breadth of involvement and loyalty, but does not moderate and only partially mediates depth of involvement and loyalty. Both service value to peaceful life and service value to social integration partially mediate user involvement and loyalty, but service value to social recognition does not.     

The lack of an expected relationship between travel cost and contingent value estimates of forest recreation value

Abstract

Using data obtained from visitors to forest campgrounds, travel cost models were developed. Bid functions and willingness‐to‐pay estimates of recreation value were derived from contingent value questions posed to campers. The willingness‐to‐pay responses were based on both photographic representations of forest scenes and on actual forest conditions at each campground. The photo‐based willingness‐to‐pay estimates were significantly correlated with scenic beauty rating estimates made for photo‐based scenes, but there was little correlation between these values and willingness‐to‐pay estimates for actual forest conditions, or estimates from travel cost models. Further, no correlation was found between travel cost estimates and contingent value estimates of the value of forest conditions on‐site. The findings raise questions about the validity and comparability of willingness‐to‐pay measures that are applied to particular types of forest recreation situations.     

Travel Behavior in Troubled Times: The Role of Consumer Self‐Confidence

ABSTRACT. The international travel and tourism industry has experienced the negative impact of a variety of both human‐caused and natural disasters and events or threats which appear to have increased in frequency and severity in recent years. The impact of these risks on travel consumers has been significant. An understanding of how travelers react to these risks is therefore of particular interest to tourism marketers. This study investigates whether traveler self‐confidence ameliorates the reaction to a variety of adverse events. A scale for measuring consumer self‐confidence when purchasing consumer products was tested and the results indicate that the scale functions well in terms of measuring consumer travel self‐confidence. The study also found significant associations between this self‐confidence measure and various measures of travel behavior in response to the influence of adverse events.     

The impact of perceived security and consumer innovativeness on e-loyalty in online travel shopping

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the impacts of perceived security and consumer innovativeness on online travel shopping. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data and a total of 283 questionnaires were used for data analysis. The mechanism of perceived security and consumer innovativeness was then identified. The study results indicate that: (1) higher perceived security increases the perception of website image and trust; (2) consumers with a higher level of innovativeness tend to trust travel websites; (3) website image has a mediating effect between perceived security and trust; and (4) trust has a mediating effect between website image and e-loyalty.     

Consumer's Perceptions and Adoption of Online Buying for Travel Products

Abstract

This study examines: (a) the relationship between the advantages and disadvantages of electronic travel shopping, in comparison to traditional in-store shopping from high street travel agents, and consumers' perception of the innovation characteristics (relative advantage, compatibility and complexity) of e-shopping, and (b) the relationship between consumer's perception of these characteristics and their intention to adopt electronic travel shopping. These relationships are examined using a sample of 127 households in Greece. The results indicate that the advantages and disadvantages of physical efforts and time pressure related to traditional in-store travel agency shopping positively influence consumer's perception of the characteristics of e-shopping. The results further show that consumers' perception of the relative advantage and compatibility of electronic travel shopping positively influence their intention to adopt e-shopping. It is also explored whether income, education and age moderate these relationships.     

Modelling Long Distance Pleasure Travel Mode Using Perceived Modal Attributes

Modelling transport choice behaviour traditionally has been addressed using objective measures of attribute data: price, time, etc. The authors argue that actual brand attributes may not be a good casual influence on consumer choice of long distance tourism travel. Choice is more likely to be a function of brand perceptions or brand image, which in turn is a function of past experience, expectations, promotional influences, family life stage and other personal factors. The authors re-examine data gathered in 1985 on tourist travel between Perth and Sydney or Melbourne, Australia; about 2400 miles. The authors model actual behaviour in terms of market share as a function of respondents' perceptions of travel mode attributes using a customised Multinomial Logit program which develops separate explanatory models for identified market segments. Results demonstrate the improvement in predictability over non-segmented models. Implications for tourism operators in promotions, product design and market targeting are discussed.     

Linking Website Interactivity to Consumer Behavioral Intention in an Online Travel Community: The Mediating Role of Utilitarian Value and Online Trust

Although prior studies have shown that perceived website interactivity plays an important role in positive behavioral intentions of online customers, the underlying psychological mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role of utilitarian value and online trust in relationship between perceived website interactivity and repurchase intention in an online travel community. Data were collected from 227 customers who had purchased travel-related products on any online travel website within the past 12 months. The empirical results supported all study hypotheses. As predicted, utilitarian value and online trust fully mediate the relationship between perceived website interactivity and repurchase intention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The Effect of Technical and Functional Quality on Guests’ Perceived Hotel Service Quality and Satisfaction: A SEM-PLS Analysis

Numerous models on perceived service quality are discussed in literature besides SERVQUAL including technical and functional quality model. Functional quality attributes have been well studied but studies about technical quality attributes are rather limited. This article aims to integrate existing frameworks and propose antecedents towards perceived service quality and resulting customer satisfaction. A total of 204 questionnaires were collected from the guests staying at hotels in Malaysia. Partial least squares (PLS-SEM) method was employed to test the proposed relationships. Findings from the study support the significant relationship between functional quality, technical quality, overall perceived service quality and guest satisfaction. Furthermore, the first order constructs on the designated second order constructs support that both functional quality and technical quality as second order reflective constructs with five and three first order dimensions respectively. Practical implications and limitations of the study are discussed in detail.