Advancing consumer decision-making in tourism behavior.

Consumer decision-making research has grown exponentially during the past three decades. Theories such as the expected utility theory, prospect theory, regret theory; satisfying theory; The theory of reasoned action and its derivative theory of planned behavior have been developed and tested in a variety of contexts. The range of contexts (e.g., well-defined to ill-defined choice situations) within which these decision-making theories are used is too broad to specifically deal within a single manuscript. A particular theory is likely to explain a specific aspect of an individual's decision in a given context. Multiple decision theories when used together are likely to explain a wider range of decision behavior across an expanded range of contexts. So far, however, no single unifying theory has emerged across disciplines to describe, explain, or predict consumer decisions, and it seems unlikely that individual decision processes fit neatly into a single decision theory.

Abelson and Levi categorize decision-making literature on three continua: structure versus process orientation, risk free versus risky choice models, and normative versus descriptive models. Abelson and Levi suggest that risk-free decisions involve preferences, whereas risky decisions include probabilities. A continuum of choice environments exists that ranges from well-defined to ill-defined choice situations. Well-defined choice situations include both risky and risk-free decisions, while ill-defined choice situations generally involve risky decisions because of the uncertainty of the outcome. A majority of tourism decisions may be ill-defined choice situations where outcomes have unknown probabilities, because of the intangible and experiential nature of tourism. Normative and descriptive decision models differ in their conceptualizations of what a decision maker does, and there is sometimes a tendency to explain, “how individuals should choose (normative models) versus how individuals choose (descriptive models)”. A key difference between normative and descriptive models revolves around whether tourists are looking for optimum decisions or simply accepting a satisfying solution for a wide array of reasons.

Most human decisions are not perfectly rational, because they are influenced by a multitude of factors, which may constraint or motivate them to act irrationally. Decision biases occur often in the decision process. Such biases occur, in part, due to the use of heuristics or “rules of thumb” which are shortcuts used to simplify decisions. In general, tourism models view decision-makers as functional (or utilitarian) people (Homo-Economicus), although some acknowledge the role of constraints on tourism decisions.

Type of involvement and level of decision-making are the two variables widely used to explain differences in consumers' decision processes. Purchase involvement is the level of concern for or interest in the purchase process, triggered by the need to consider a particular purchase, and involvement “is influenced by the interaction of individual, product and situational characteristics”. Purchase involvement relates to the type of decision-making. Extensive problem solving is associated with high involvement purchases, whereas habitual decision-making is associated with low involvement purchases. Limited decision-making process is a level between habitual and extensive decision-making, where the decision process is not as complex and highly involved as extensive decision-making, yet not as simple as habitual decision-making.

Most tourism service purchases are considered to be high-involvement, extensive decision-making purchases, because of the relatively high costs, both monetary and non-monetary, involved in these decisions. For example, planning a pleasure trip to another country involves a relatively high perceived risk of making a bad decision, investing a significant amount of time searching for information, and a considerable monetary outlay. However, low involvement is likely when decision-makers have prior experience about the service. Prior experience leads to a more cursory information search, more confidence in the decision choice, and less perceived risk.