One model, one construct, different psychographic measures: A comparison of three scales of allocentrism-psychocentrism

Abstract

The venturesomeness concept developed by Stanley Plog almost five decades ago has been influential, amply cited and used in tourism investigations. However, a close review of the published literature indicates that Plog originally developed more than one scale to measure his psychographic construct, with different items, operationalizations, but no clarity about their validity and efficacy. Thus, this research evaluates three versions of Plog’s scales based on their capacity to predict behavioral intentions and other postulates derived from Plog’s framework: relationships with vacation frequency, Cohen’s tourist roles, epistemic values, and the moderation of familiarity and perceived distance. Data sets of three separate samples are employed in four destination settings, estimating PLS-SEM path analyses in the hypothesized model. Findings revealed problems with the construct and nomological validity of two scales, and only one scale displayed predictive characteristics consistent with various tenets of Plog’s model. Theoretical implications and recommendations for research are provided.