Tourists’ mindsets and choice of adventurous holiday activities

ABSTRACT

People’s mindsets are considered vital since mindsets influence their behaviours. Surprisingly, research investigating how mindsets influence tourists’ behaviours is very scarce. The present study examines the effects of tourists’ mindsets on the choice of holiday activities in a scenario-based experiment. In a 2 × 2 study, which includes tourist mindsets (fixed, growth) and the perception of adventurousness (high, low) of the holiday activities, we show that mindsets influence the choice of holiday activities. Tourists who endorsed growth mindset tend to choose more adventurous activities, while tourists who endorsed fixed mindset seem to be indifferent. The implications for these findings for destination managers are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Mindsets
• adventurous
• fixed mindset
• growth mindset
• implicit theories
• holiday activities

Disclosure statement

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