Direct and indirect effects of time perspective on tourist's re-visit intention

Abstract

Despite the concept of time perspective has been fully situated in service marketing, leisure, and psychology, the discussion of time perspective has not been expanded to the tourism context. The concept of time perspective is based on the idea that people place emphasis on the past, present or future (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). Previous leisure studies have identified thinking about the past, present, and future affects current attitude, decisions, and behaviours. However, no empirical study in tourism literature has been found how time perspective and tourist revisit intention are related. Follow this line of thought, it is not surprised that there is lack of study to identify possible factors that mediate the hypothesized associated between time perspective and revisit intention. Bergadaa (1990) suggested time perspective exerts it influences on travel consumption via motivation and attitude. Interestingly, no empirical study has tested this assumption. This study seeks to integrate these two separate, yet related mediators, theoretical streams of research and investigate the relationship between time perspective and revisit intention in the tourism context.

To develop a measurement instrument for all constructs in this study, a multi-stage development procedure proposed by Churchill (1979) will be used. In the first stage, extensive search of relevant literature will be conducted to identify the dimensions and items of each construct. Focus group interviews and expert panel opinions will then be invited to ensure the items derived from the literature are appropriate and relevant. The second stage will involve conducting a pilot study to fine-tune the measurement instrument. Based on results of the pilot study, the instrument will be refined for reliability and validity improvement. A cross-sectional survey among Hong Kong residents who are visiting Japan will be conducted, using the finalized questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis is used for item reduction and to identify the dimensionality of the important research concepts. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling are used to examine the reliability, validity and causal relationships of the constructs.

From a theoretical perspective, the present study serves as pioneer in applying a concept of time perspective to the tourism context. This provides a new and fertile ground for researchers who are interested in understanding the leisure-time travel behaviour. In addition, this study takes into consideration the relationships among time-perspective, travel motivation, and behavioral intention based on the cognitive temporal system proposed by Bergadaa (1990), which has long been ignored in the tourism literature. Finally, the findings of this study would inform empirical value to destination building and planning for DMOs in Japan as well as competitive strategies of other overseas destinations interested in Hong Kong market if they want to survive and gain competitive advantage in such an intense competition environment.