The Impact of Memory on Expenditures Recall in Tourism Conversion Studies

Abstract

One critical element in conversion studies involves visitor spending that is used in combination with the conversion rate to assess the economic impact of marketing efforts. This article compares expenditure data collected from sample respondents who visited Frankenmuth, Michigan, during two different periods of time: 1992-93 and 1993-94. The purpose of the article is to assess the impact of the length of lapsed time between the visits and when respondents were asked to recall trip expenditures on the accuracy and direction of the reported data. The finding suggests that, contrary to past findings in the literature, the longer the lapsed time between the visit and the recall of trip spending, the more likely the respondents will overestimate trip expenditures. This finding suggests that the most common criticisms regarding the underreporting of expenditures by respondents due to lapsed time are not necessarily true and should be examined on a case-by-case basis.