Stability in Outbound Travel Motivation: A Norwegian Example

Abstract

Only travel and leisure motives with some degree of stability are likely to contribute to predictions of travel choice or behavior. Eight motive scales, based on previous research and consultations with a travel company, were used in a survey of outbound tourists from Norway (n = 243). Their stability was tested in a quasi-experimental pre/post design. Respondents' trip abroad was used as the "experimental treatment," and postintervention measurements were taken at two different points in time: either after 1 week or after 2 months. Internal consistency proved satisfactory for seven out of eight motive scales tested. Confirmatory factor analysis also lends some support to the single-scale factor models. All seven scales show satisfactory test–retest reliability. A small, but statistically significant, difference between pre- and posttravel motives emerged in the powerful repeated-measurements analysis. A difference of this magnitude is not likely to have any practical significance, however. The interval difference between post- and premeasurements (1 week vs. 2 months) had no significant effect. The travel motives measured in the study thus may be trusted to be relatively lasting and stable phenomena. For the use of travel motives for predicting travel choices and behavior, this is a necessary, although insufficient, precondition.