An Updated Model of Travel and Tourism Purchase-Consumption Systems

Abstract

A purchase consumption system (PCS) is the sequence of mental and observable steps a consumer undertakes to buy and use several products for which some of the products purchased leads to a purchase sequence involving other products. The central PCS proposition (P₁) is that several decisions within a customer's PCS are dependent on prior purchases of products that trigger these later purchases. While many additional propositions follow from this central proposition, only three are examined empirically in this report. P₂: some of the important product purchases made subsequent to the destination choice are not pre-planned before the start of the trip; these purchases often include destination-area restaurant decisions, gift purchases, and activity purchases. P₃: two categories of choice decisions occur for many travelers within a leisure-travel PCS: (1) the generic product decision (e.g., should I plan a trip?); and (2) the brand choice decision (e.g., which destination alternative should I select?). P₄: destination visitors who are high information users participate in more activities, spend more money per day in the destination area, are more satisfied with their destination experiences, and have higher intentions to return compared to low information users. In the article additional propositions are proposed for examination in future research. To examine the propositions and the usefulness of the PCS framework for tourism research, qualitative, long interviews of visitors to an island tourism destination (the Big Island of Hawaii) were conducted. The results include strong empirical support for the four propositions. Several suggestions for future research are offered.

Key Words:

• Purchase-consumption system
• tourist behavior
• travel purchase