LOOK AT ME-I AM FLYING: THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL VISIBILITY OF CONSUMPTION ON TOURISM DECISIONS

This article focuses on the impact of social visibility of consumption on tourists' purchase decision making. We focus on two important purchase decisions leading up to the time of departure: the choice of destination and the choice of an airline to get to the destination. The results show that when individuals are concerned with how they are evaluated by others, they are more inclined to letting their image of the destination inform their willingness to visit a particular holiday destination. Further, the airline's country-of-origin turns out to be a far more salient and useful information cue the more the holiday is perceived as being socially visible. Finally, the results regarding social visibility are more pronounced among travelers who are susceptible to normative influence than for travelers who are not susceptible.