What Triggers Travel Spending? The Impact of Prior Spending on Additional Unplanned Purchases

Abstract

This study brings together prior and subsequent unplanned buying behaviors by investigating the large, albeit implicit, effect of the former on the latter in the tourism shopping context. The results of five experiments suggest that prior buying prices form a reference point that stimulates tourists’ unplanned buying intentions because of the contrast between prior and additional unplanned buying prices. The bigger (smaller) the former is, the bigger (smaller) the latter will be. However, once the illusion is eliminated, the contrast effect disappears. The study offers several theoretical contributions. It posits that prior buying prices affect the price evaluation of additional unplanned buying behaviors and intentions. The elimination of the illusion removes the effect of the former on the latter. The marketing and managerial implications of persuasive strategies to promote tourism consumption are discussed.