Toward a gender understanding of the influence of the couple on family vacation decisions

Couple’s Decision-Making Process and Their Satisfaction with the Tourist Destination

“…One of the key characteristics of the process of choosing a tourist destination is that it is often a decision made as a group, especially in a family (Rojas-de-Gracia and Alarcón-Urbistondo 2016). However, the main decision-making models assume that the decision maker is a single person (Sirakaya and Woodside 2005).…”

Couple Roles in Subdecisions on Family Vacations

“…Authors assumed that the answers provided by both partners would be similar and, consequently, founded their conclusions and generalizations on a single point of view, which was normally that of the wives, for they were usually more accessible. In fact, a bibliographic review carried out by Rojas-de Gracia and Alarcón-Urbistondo (2016) shows than only 39 of the 72 studies analyzed collected both responses, despite the fact that having both gives you a better picture of reality, because members of the family do not always have the same perception regarding the decision process (Barlés-Arizón et al, 2013b; Bronner & de Hoog, 2008; Dellaert, Prodigalidad, & Louviere, 1998). Furthermore, the reference studies that did include two responses used samples ranging from the 31 couples in the study by Mottiar and Quinn (2004) to 300 in Barlés-Arizón et al (2013a).…”

“…For example, whereas some authors consider that it is the woman who searches for tourist information (Howard & Madrigal, 1990; Mottiar & Quinn, 2004), others conclude that it is the man (Decrop, 2008; Jenkins, 1978). Furthermore, not all aspects have been studied with the same intensity (Rojas-de Gracia & Alarcón-Urbistondo, 2016). This means there is yet no broad consensus regarding the conclusions.…”

“…Although Davis, as far back as 1970, questioned the reliability and validity of the results of those studies that based their conclusions on the collection of a single response in each couple, which was normally the woman (Monroe, Bokemeier, Kotchen, & Mckean, 1985), tourism researchers have frequently considered couples as a seamless decision-making unit, assuming that both are sufficiently in agreement. Some papers do, however, show that this is not always the case (Bronner & de Hoog, 2008; Davis & Rigaux, 1974; Kang & Hsu, 2005), and most of those that do include both responses are based on small samples, given the greater difficulty of obtaining more than one answer per household (Rojas-de Gracia & Alarcón-Urbistondo, 2016).…”

“…These changes have not, however, been reflected in the literature, as there has been a noticeable decrease in studies on this topic over the last decade (Rojas-de Gracia & Alarcón-Urbistondo, 2016). The primary goal of this article is to contribute to the existing studies in two ways: by enriching and updating the state of play and from a methodological perspective, by basing its conclusions on a sample with responses from both partners that is larger than previous publications.…”