Together alone: complex tourism decisions in couples and random groups

ABSTRACT

We conducted experiments to examine how couples handle ill-structured decisions compared to individuals and random groups, and how time pressure affects couples’ performance. The samples included 74 couples and 16 random groups. The results demonstrated that couples performed better than the partners did individually and were able to reach the potential of the two individuals. Random groups of two did not demonstrate the same improvement in problem-solving. When under time pressure, couples were unable to reach a better solution than the average of their two individual solutions. The study gives an insight into how different customer groups make decisions,contributing to adventure tourism and extreme tourism businesses in terms of implications for tourists’ activity planning and safety.

KEYWORDS:

• Ill-structured decisions
• tourist couples
• time pressure
• complex decision making
• random groups

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the anonymous reviewers and the editor(s) of this journal.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Olena Koval

Olena Koval (PhD) is a postdoctoral researcher in risk communication. She has a background in tourism/hospitality and management. Her publications and research interests cover the areas of tourism and hospitality, individual and group decision-making, organizational climate, risk communication strategies, and societal safety.

Håvard Hansen

Håvard Hansen (PhD) is a professor of marketing and a business consultant. His research has been published in journals like the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Service Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, and Industrial Marketing Management.