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Involvement: Travel motivation and destination selection

Department of Hospitality & Tourism at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA, josiam{at}uwstout.edu

George Smeaton

Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA

Christine J. Clements

Department of Hospitality & Tourism at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA

Researchers and marketers are interested in understanding and predicting the complex behaviours of consumers. One important facet of consumer behaviour is the ‘involvement’ construct. Involvement is ‘a person’s perceived relevance of the object based on inherent needs, values, and interests’. ¹ This study examined the interplay between the involvement construct and push/pull factors as motivators in destination selection.

Clements and Josiam ² found that college students who had travelled during the Spring Break vacation had significantly higher levels of involvement than non-travellers. This study surveyed 795 college students during their Spring Break vacation at the beach in Panama City Beach, Florida. Vacationers were found to be highly involved with the concept of travelling on Spring Break. As hypothesised, high levels of involvement were significantly associated with push factors relevant to travel to beachfront destinations on Spring Break. High levels of involvement were also significanlty associated with the pull factors of Panama City Beach, Florida, as a popular beachfront destination for Spring Breakers.

Key Words: involvement • travel decision making • travel motivations • youth travel • consumer behaviour • Spring Break

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