Theory of Planned Behaviour – Vacation Destination Choice

What it measures

Operationalises Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour for vacation destination selection. Attitude captures evaluative beliefs about visiting the destination (good/bad, wise/foolish, pleasant/unpleasant). Subjective norm captures perceived social pressure from important referents to visit or not visit. Perceived behavioural control (PBC) captures perceived ease or difficulty of making the trip. Behavioural intention captures likelihood of visiting in a specified timeframe. The TPB framework consistently outperforms simpler attitude-only models, particularly when PBC is salient — as in high-cost, long-haul, or high-risk destination choices.

Representative items

• Visiting this destination would be a good idea. (Attitude)
• For me, visiting this destination would be pleasant. (Attitude)
• Most people who are important to me think I should visit this destination. (Subjective Norm)
• If I wanted to, I could easily visit this destination. (PBC)
• I have the resources and ability to visit this destination. (PBC)

Citation

Lam, T., & Hsu, C.H.C. (2006). Predicting behavioral intention of choosing a travel destination. Tourism Management, 27(4), 589–599.