The effect of future time reference on consumers’ travel and dining-out spending across countries

ABSTRACT

Language structures can influence speakers’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours, differently. One influential structural feature in language is future time reference (FTR), which refers to the way speakers mark the time of events. The purpose of this study is to test if languages that require the grammatical marking of time (i.e. strong FTR languages) encourage present-oriented consumption, including lodging and restaurant. Fixed-effects analysis and multilevel mixed-effects analysis are employed to compare the spending on accommodations and/or restaurants between strong- and weak-FTR speakers. The findings consistently show the significant effect of strong FTR languages on their speakers’ lodging and restaurant consumption. Implications of the findings are provided, as well as suggestions for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Language
• culture
• future time reference
• time orientation
• lodging and restaurant

Disclosure statement

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