Impulse purchasing in tourism – learnings from a study in a matured market

Abstract

Existing literature suggests that information search and planning always precede travel activity. This contrasts with our understanding of purchasing behaviour in other contexts where a significant amount of non-planned, impulse purchasing occurs. We propose that impulse purchasing also occurs in tourism. Results from an empirical study show that impulse purchasing does occur in tourism and is specifically associated with shorter trips, a small number of travel companions, specific travel motivations, and familiarity with the destination.

Keywords:

• impulse purchase
• planned purchase
• travel planning tourism services