Signal, need fulfilment and tourists’ intention to revisit

ABSTRACT

Self-determination theory (SDT) asserts that satisfying individuals’ basic psychological needs – autonomy, relatedness, competence (ARC) – would affect their behavioural intentions. However, the application of SDT in the tourism context is very limited. This study applies SDT to develop a model to understand individuals’ intention to revisit a holiday destination. The model was tested using data collected from 725 respondents. The results show that destination source credibility and destination image foster tourists’ ARC need fulfilment. This need fulfilment influences their positive emotions and attachment towards the destination, which ultimately increases revisit intention. This study highlights the importance of including SDT in examining tourists’ behaviours. In addition, destination credibility and image could serve as signals to bolster ARC need fulfilment.

KEYWORDS:

• Positive emotions
• destination attachment
• intention to revisit
• self-determination theory
• signalling theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arnold Japutra

Arnold Japutra is a senior lecturer in marketing in the Business School at the University of Western Australia. His research interests include brand management, relationship marketing, consumer psychology and consumer behaviour. His work has been published in many journals such as International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Tourism Research, Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, Current Issues in Tourism and Tourism Management Perspectives, among others.

Keni Keni

Keni Keni is a senior lecturer in marketing research and research methodology in the Faculty of Economics and Business at Universitas Tarumanagara, Indonesia. His research focuses on the topic of consumer behaviour, general marketing, and green marketing. His works has been published in various journals, such as Journal of Brand Management, Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business, DeReMa and Jurnal Manajemen.