Variety-Seeking Behavior and Information Processing in Choosing a Vacation Destination

This study investigates broad versus specific levels of perceived variety seeking when choosing a vacation destination. In general, consumers use two criteria to evaluate where to vacation: the novelty of the destination relative to their current place and the potential variety of activities offered...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of travel research 2020-05, Vol.59 (5), p.850-863
Main Authors: Hong, JungHwa (Jenny), Desai, Kalpesh Kaushik
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Consumer behavior
Information processing
Travel
Vacations
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Summary:This study investigates broad versus specific levels of perceived variety seeking when choosing a vacation destination. In general, consumers use two criteria to evaluate where to vacation: the novelty of the destination relative to their current place and the potential variety of activities offered. Consumers’ perception about these criteria is regulated at a broad level through spatial distance information, and at a specific level through activity information. Findings from experiments indicate that people prefer taking vacations to distant (vs. close) places. However, when both types of vacation information are available, people prefer a destination with more activities regardless of spatial distance. Process evidence suggests that analytic (vs. holistic) information processing and variety seeking at a specific (vs. broad) level drive the findings.
ISSN:0047-2875
1552-6763
DOI:10.1177/0047287519862871