Discussion
The profound interest in the generational cohorts and the limited theory development on this topic formed the basis for this study, which is the first to validate a theoretical model of generational travel decision making. The results of this investigation significantly advance the understanding of generational cohort behavior and its application to travel decision making, and the model makes a major contribution by verifying that formative referents—memories of experiences while growing up—influence present-day travel decision making. Although the logic that each generation’s unique memories influence present-day behavior seems plausible, this connection has been difficult to establish prior to this study.
As suspected in previous generational studies, but confirmed here, focus group participants reported a disassocia- tion between memories of past macro historical events, such as major wars and terrorist attacks, and present-day travel decisions. Such a finding is attributed to the fact that none of the focus group participants was directly affected by, or personally involved in, the major events they remembered. Instead, their recollections were based on the mass media images of these events. While they felt shock at the devastation of major world events and sympathy for those who suffered from being involved in them, the bombardment of these messages reduced their overall impact and participants’ personal connectivity to these events. Memories of macro historical events are episodic memories, linked to a particular time and place, and affect only short-term travel decisions rather than the lifelong consumer attitude and intentions toward travel.