Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The level of
modal decisions
lies between generic and specifi c decisions since some decision
items are considered in any holiday type (e.g. destination, accommodation, transportation . . .)
whereas other items are particular to one type only and then non-comparable with the other
holiday types (e.g. the ski material, tour . . .). Three criteria prevail in modal choices:
1
length of the trip (e.g. short break vs. longer holiday);
2
period of the year (e.g. winter vs. summer holiday); and
3
trip purpose (e.g. leisure, business, or visit friends and relatives).
Those criteria are often used for segmentation (e.g. Etzel and Woodside 1973; Sirakaya and
Woodside 2005). Because time and money resources are limited, the consumer is urged to make
trade-offs between modal alternatives. In other words, s/he has to decide about the number of
trips to make that year. Although alternatives are not fully comparable, visitors weigh up their
benefi ts, assess their cost and the length of stay they can afford to reserve and pay for, by taking
into consideration their fi nancial and time constraints (Alegre and Pou 2005). A fi nal remark
about this vertical dimension is that generic and modal decisions involve exclusive, substitutable
or independent alternatives, while holiday decisions rely on inclusive, complementary or
dependent alternatives.
Transversality in holiday decision-making
As previously discussed, holidays and travel are thought to be joint decisions that involve the
different members of the household or friends in the group. However, most of the time tourism
research relies on individual data when studying holiday decisions and processes. In contrast,
Decrop's integrative model includes a consideration of transversality, or the exploration of group
factors, in holiday DM. Different types of DM units may be compared, e.g. singles, couples,
families with children and larger holidaying groups, such as parties of friends (
Figure 19.2
).
The
thrust of extant research on holiday group DM has focused on the family, especially the wife/
husband dyad and the parents/children relationship (Darley and Lim 1986; Howard and Madrigal
1990; Nichols and Snepenger 1988; Thornton, Shaw and Williams 1997; for a review, see Decrop
2008). Most of these studies have focused on the distribution of roles and power relationships
within the family. For example, Jenkins (1978) found that husbands dominate autonomic
decisions such as length of stay, timing and spending (i.e. modal decisions). In contrast,
syncretic decisions are typical for choice aspects such as mode of transport, activities,
accommodation and destination (i.e. specifi c decisions).
In contrast with families, parties of friends have not received much attention in the literature
(Decrop, Pecheux and Bauvin 2004). Moreover, the question as to what extent individual and
group values, preferences and expectations converge/diverge in the DM process has been
neglected to date. Indeed, group decisions are not as easy as individual decisions due to
interpersonal constraints and confl icts. Finally, the issue of 'mixed' DM units is worthwhile
investigating since consumers are often involved in more than one type of holiday decision
simultaneously. For example, teenagers may be involved in decisions relating to a holiday project
with friends in addition to the family summer trip.
Theorizing tourism consumption
In the current market economy characterized by digital technologies and competitive pressures,
consumers are often confronted with a large number of alternatives (brands or even substitutable
