Using group comparisons in AMOS to explore shopping as a travel driver

Abstract

Purpose – This study seeks to achieve two objectives: first, to expand on Fodness's five‐dimensional travel motivation scale by empirically demonstrating that a sixth driving force – shopping – encourages tourists to visit particular destinations; and second, to provide a clear demonstration for using AMOS structural equation modeling to analyze group comparisons, which researchers could employ in future studies.Design/methodology/approach – The study offers and evaluates a proposed higher‐order travel motivation structural model using confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. It also explores a tourist's country of origin (the USA or Japan) as a moderator. The empirical study is supported through data from a convenient sample of 1,042 tourists (521 American and Japanese tourists, respectively) who were vacationing in Honolulu, Hawaii.Findings – The findings demonstrate that five of the six motivational forces encourage US and Japanese tourists to vacation in Honolulu. In addition, the results revea...