Senior spa-goers’ potion: Brewing post-trip life satisfaction from the essence of motivations

This study analyzes the effect of tourism-related life-enhancing motivations and tourism-related constraints on seniors’ life satisfaction after a visit to a spa. Drawing on expectancy-value, leisure constraints, and social comparison theories, the empirical application conducted in the thermal tourism context finds that tourism-related constraints have no effect on life satisfaction and that tourism-related life-enhancing motivations present a diversity of effects. While some motivations have no effect, others exert a positive effect in absolute terms (novelty) and in relative terms (relaxation and internal motivations) following a reference dependence pattern that is in line with prospect theory. Additionally, reference-dependent motivations present asymmetric effects from different angles: relaxation behaves according to the principles of loss aversion, while internal motivations show, nonetheless, reverse loss aversion. Theoretical frameworks related to motivation may benefit from recognizing the diverse effects of motivations on certain dimensions, such as life satisfaction.