Developing an alternative model for travel decision-making

This study proposes an alternative travel decision making model and situates its arguments in the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) theoretical construct. The MOA model suggests that motivation, opportunity, and ability are major factors influencing decision making. Applying this model in the context of tourism, the proposed model suggests that travel behaviors are determined by self-congruity, functional congruity, perceived travel constraints, constraint negotiation, and self-efficacy. The proposed model and hypotheses were tested in the context of cruise travel. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were utilized in this study. Semi-structured interviews with both cruisers and non-cruisers were first conducted to derive measurement items for the interested constructs and to understand how different factors influence travel decision making. An online panel survey was followed to collect quantitative data for testing the proposed theoretical model and hypotheses. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test both the proposed model and hypothesized relationships among the constructs. The analyses were performed with Analysis of MOment Structures (AMOS 7.0). All hypotheses except one were supported by the data. The proposed model also had an acceptable fit to the data. Based on the findings, both theoretical and practical implications of the study were recommended.