Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In conclusion, tourism decision models anchor widely on CCB assumptions even if in the
last few decades there has been recognition of the need to emphasize the role of social and
psychological variables in tourist decision-making, such as the dimensions of consumer behaviour
covered by prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky 1979). Prospect theory developed as a
psychologically realistic alternative to expected utility theory. It has become a starting point for
deeper research into rationalization of the real world decision behaviour of human beings.
Prospect theory
The main contribution of economic theories relies on presuppositions that beyond the
optimization problem there is also a perception function. Following Kahneman and Tversky
(1979), the structure of cognition (or thinking and deciding) can be explained through two
systems, which correspond roughly to everyday concepts of reasoning and intuition. One way to
describe reasoning is to say that this is the process involved when an individual uses his/her mind
to consider something carefully: like solving some logical problem such as playing chess. Any
process of drawing a conclusion from a set of premises with effort can be called a process of
reasoning whereas intuition is the instinctive knowledge of some facts without the use of rational
processes. Intuitive thought comes to mind spontaneously and without effort.
To better understand how these two systems of cognition can be expressed in tourism research
and traveller decision we will adapt the example of the 'bat and ball' (this example stated that a
bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total, where the bat cost $1 more than the ball. If asked how much
the ball costs, the common or intuitive response is to say 10 cents). Little processing is required
for this simple problem. Let's consider the situation when a tourist is searching for the cheapest
alternatives to go from city A to city B and fi nds a promotion to go by a low cost airline for
€
€
20. The normal reaction of the traveller, without
spending additional time to fi nd out all the information about this choice, would be to buy this
ticket. But after some time spent reading all the terms and conditions he/she fi nds out that the
price including surcharges and taxes raises the total price for the trip to
10. Costs of other alternatives are around
€
30, thus making this
choice much less attractive.
This example shows that people are not accustomed to spending a lot of effort or hard
thinking, and are often content to trust a plausible judgment that quickly comes to his/her
mind. But from the alternative position, intuitive thinking can also be powerful and accurate in
the case of an individual having high skills, acquired by prolonged practice. In the example
discussed above, if the traveller is used to travelling by plane he/she should know that, in this
kind of promotion, the price of some surcharges and taxes may not be included in the initial
promotional offer.
The general characteristics of perception and the two types of cognitive systems are labelled
by Stanovich and West (2000) as system 1 and system 2. Operations of system 1 (or intuition) are
fast, parallel, automatic, effortless, associative and often emotionally charged. Slow-learning is
explained as often operations from system 1 are governed by habit and are therefore hard
to modify or change over time. Another important factor is that the perception of people is
generally based on intuition. Systematic research indicates that most thoughts and actions
are normally intuitive in the sense given above. The operations of system 2 (or reasoning) are
much slower as they require more time to make a decision, being serial, controlled and effortful.
A big difference between this and the previous system is fl exibility.
The main key to distinguish whether an operation should be included in system 1 or system
2 is the effort spent on this operation. Effort-key, as an important tool to distinguish between
the two systems, can be explained using the capacity of mental activity and its limitation.
