How does spatial distance to travel companions transform to temporal distance in travel purchase decisions?
Abstract
The temporal distance between purchase time and departure time is inherent within travel purchase decisions. Construal level theory suggests that construal congruence between various dimensions of psychological distance leads to positive effects. Hence, this study explored whether the spatial distance between tourists and their companions in the pre-trip phase impacts temporal distance in travel purchase decisions. We tested a theoretical model that contained spatial distance between tourists and their companions, imagery vividness, temporal distance in travel purchase decisions, and product presentation by five studies. Findings revealed that spatially distant (vs. near) companions encourage tourists to purchase more distant-future (vs. near-future) tourism products. Additionally, spatial distance transforms to temporal distance in travel purchase decisions via imagery vividness, and this effect is more pronounced in abstract presentations than in concrete presentations.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
9-1-2024
Volume
60
Funding Information
National Natural Science Foundation of China / Natural Science Foundation for Young Scholars of Hunan Province / Social Science Achievement Evaluation Committee Foundation / Hunan Provincial Department of Education
School
School of Business and Law
Grant Number
21B0559, 72302206, 72202061, 2023JJ40639, XSP2023GLC017
Copyright
subscription content
Publisher
Elsevier
Comments
Cheng, J., He, X., Wen, J., & Su, L. (2024). How does spatial distance to travel companions transform to temporal distance in travel purchase decisions?. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 60, 166-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2024.07.002