Tourist socialization process in tourism activity decision-making: The moderation of scarcity appeals

Abstract

Tourist socialization process suggest that family and friends shape tourist's cognition, and in turn their behaviors. A conceptual model is developed that investigates tourists' perceived risk as an underlying mechanism between tourism activity type, travel companion type and purchase decisions to illustrate tourist socialization process in tourism activity decision-making. This study further investigates the potential moderation of scarcity appeals on tourist socialization process. A questionnaire survey and three situational experiments were conducted to test hypothesized relationships. Findings indicate that when accompanied by friends (vs. family), tourists have higher purchase intentions toward challenging tourism activities; when accompanied by family (vs. friends), tourists have higher purchase intentions toward relaxing tourism activities. Additionally, tourist's perceived risk mediates the socialization process in tourism activity decision-making, but this effect is attenuated in demand-framed (vs. supply-framed) scarcity appeals.