Bargaining Behavior and the Shopping Experiences of British Tourists on Vacation

ABSTRACT

The impact of vacations on tourists’ shopping behavior has received significant research attention, but there is a dearth of literature on bargaining behavior in the settings of tourism and hospitality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the bargaining behavior of British tourists visiting Turkey. The study employs an open-ended survey. Using a content analysis, the study suggests that most tourists use bargaining to seek value for money, and that they are more likely to bargain while on vacation than when at home. This study contributes to the body of literature covering tourist experiences when on vacation abroad, and proposes several practical implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourist experience
• travel risk
• tourist behavior
• bargaining
• economic psychology

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to thank Bob McKercher for his valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The assistance of Eylin Babacan and Nur Kulakoğlu Dilek in collecting the data is also gratefully acknowledged.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Metin Kozak

Metin Kozak is a Professor, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Dokuz Eylul University, 35680, Foca–Izmir, Turkey (E-mail: [email protected]).