Wellness Tourism Industry

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

Literature Review

The purpose of this chapter is to delineate the theoretical framework and academic literature upon which this study is built. More specifically, through an exhaustive review of numerous academic articles, and publications, this section sheds light on the wellness tourism industry, as well as the millennium generation. Importantly, a theoretical model is proposed and further illustrated.

Theoretical Framework

Attitude Formation Theory

Chowdhury and Salam (2015) describe attitude as an amalgamation of beliefs, moods, and standpoints. In particular, the attitude can be better understood as an interconnection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, with cognitive processes shaping emotional and behavioral responses respectively. In research, the attitude model provides researchers with deep insights into the feelings, thoughts, and patterns of behavior consumers maintain towards an attitude object (Chi, Jeng, Acker & Bowler, 2018). More importantly, attitude is built on continuous learning over the years along with individuals’ unique personality, and hence is subjective (Vishal, 2014). In fact, there is a wide consensus on the core components of attitude, namely, cognitive, affective, and behavioral (Chowdhury & Salam, 2015).
Looking back at earlier studies, Breckler (1985) defined attitude as the response to an attitude object or antecedent stimulus, illustrating that the cognitive component involves a set of beliefs, structural knowledge, thoughts and perceptions, while the affect refers to both positive negative emotional responses, and lastly the behavior to behavioral intentions, and actions respectively. More particularly, Hilgard (1980) indicated that the aforementioned three-component model was introduced as early as 1695 and 1716 from Leibniz and Kant, in Germany. In the seminal two-volume work of Alexander Bain (1855-1859)¹ feelings relate to emotions, passion, affection, sentiments, whilst thoughts refer to the intellect, or cognition entailing also judgment, reason, memory, and imagination, and volition, or will, refers to behavioral activities shaped by individuals’ feelings accordingly (Hilgard, 1980). Indeed, Jung indicated that attitude is the readiness to act or behave in a particular way consciously or unconsciously, while Ajzen and Fishbein illustrated that attitudes are directed towards a certain object, behavior or person, and Baron and Byrne similarly described attitudes as the sum of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, towards certain objects, which remain constant over time (Vishal, 2014). It is generally believed that among these three components a positive correlation and consistency exists Breckler (1985). In fact, although individuals exhibit a strong tendency to maintain consistency in their attitudinal responses, this is not always the case, given that each component might result from distinct learning conditions and situations (Breckler, 1985). According to Fishbein and Ajzen attitude is related to a predisposed inclination acquired through learning to behave in a specific way, towards an object, both positively and negatively (Chowdhury & Salam, 2015).
Cognitive refers to learned perceptual patterns, whereas the affective constituent relates to a wide spectrum of feelings, covering positive and negative emotional responses shaped also from previous experiences. Numerous disciplines ranging from psychology to information science utilized cognition as a theoretical construct to understand consumer’s cognitive thinking patterns and respective needs, and behaviors (Afzal, 2018). Cognition results from past exposures to various stimuli, including education or interpersonal communication (Breckler, 1985). Ajzen (2001) elaborates that beliefs shape the subjective values associated with an object and eventually the attitude. More particularly, Ajzen (2001) indicates that beliefs that are readily available from memory exert a more significant influence on the attitude. Further, the accessibility of beliefs Ajzen (2001) is also contingent on personal and subjective factors, for instance the personal goals an individual holds at a given moment.
The affect is a state of experiencing feelings, yet without the individuals being aware of the reasons behind these emotions, whilst emotions entail cognitive elements, and hence the individuals recognize the object or reason behind a particular emotion (Afzal, 2018). Lakomski (2010) illustrates that emotions comprise various subcategories, namely background, primary, and social emotions respectively. More precisely, background emotions are not evident in behavior, and involve tacit knowledge, whilst primary or basic emotions comprise emotions ranging from fear, sadness, disgust, and anger to surprise and happiness. Social emotions on the other hand comprise shame, guilt, pride, gratitude, admiration, indignation, envy, jealousy, and contempt (Lakomski, 2010). Moreover, the affective component can range from, automatic, and holistic, to instantaneous, and difficult to vocalize feelings, as well as more volatile emotional states such as moods (Agarwal & Malhotra, 2005).
Ajzen (2001) illustrates that both the affective and the cognitive components shape the attitude and behavior respectively, yet at varying degrees. In particular, the affective response can derive from classical conditioning in past experiences (Breckler, 1985). Fiske and Pavelchak divided the affective component into category based (holistic mode) and dimensional mode respectively, with the former including schemas stored in memory, through labeling of various categories, and expected values and attributes (Agarwal & Malhotra, 2005).
The behavioral or conative component is linked with individuals’ acts towards an attitude object, which can entail high or low involvement, and level of interest accordingly (Chowdhury & Salam, 2015). Breckler (1985) indicated that the tendency to act in a specific way could be attributed to instrumental learning processes, shaped by past behavior. More precisely, past behavior has been argued to influence future behavior based on the premise that repetitive behavior leads to habit formation, which eventually shapes future behavior (Ajzen, 1991). In fact, Bamberg, Ajzen and Schmidt (2003) illustrated that the frequency of a behavior induces habit strength. Yet, the authors argue that the fact the behavior has become routinized and automatic due to the force of habit, doesn’t necessarily subsume unregulated automatic behavioral responses. In fact, even on the occasion of strong routine behaviors, cognitive responses form part of the behavioral intention even at a lower level. In fact, the frequency of a specific behavior reduces the amount of cognitive efforts, as those can be retrieved directly from memory (Bamberg, Ajzen & Schmidt, 2003).
According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB) three main predictors account for the behavioral intentions, namely attitude, subjective norms, or perceived social pressure, and ultimately the perceived behavioral control, which relates to the perceived ease or difficult in executing a certain act (Ajzen, 1991). According to TPB model, human behavior is shaped based on beliefs about the consequences of the behavior (behavioral beliefs), normative beliefs stemming from the expectations from other people, and lastly control beliefs that relate to the perceived behavioral control, specifically the perceived ease or difficulty of executing an act, as earlier noted (Ajzen, (2002).
In fact, subjective or social norms impact behavioral intentions, though to varying degrees across distinct populations (Ajzen, 2001). Yet, aside from subjective or social norms, the author highlights that it is important to take into consideration factors such as personal norms and moral obligations towards behaving in a certain way, given that moral values an individual holds exerts a considerable influence on behavioral intention (Ajzen, 1991). Besides, the perceived difficulty, refers to the self-efficacy, namely the degree of difficulty individuals attribute to a certain act, whereas perceived controllability, refers to the control people have in performing a particular behavior. Nevertheless, the perceived difficulty, as opposed to the perceived controllability has been found to exert a more significant influence on behavioral intentions (Ajzen, 2001).
As earlier mentioned, the affect, which subsumes the sum of feelings, and emotions towards an attitude object, along with the cognition, which refers to the set of beliefs an individual maintains towards an object, give rise to the attitude formation. However, these two components need to be distinguished, given that the strength and salience of each can lead to distinct attitude relationship behaviors (Van den Berg, Manstead, van der Pligt, & Wigboldus, 2006).
More recently, research concentrated separately on the affective component innate in attitude model, namely feelings, and emotions, in evaluating and predicting consumer behavior (Agarwal & Malhotra, 2005). In fact, recent studies indicate a stronger correlation between affective and conative components, rather than cognitive and behavioral elements respectively, yet depending on additional factors (Van den Berg, Manstead, van der Pligt, & Wigboldus, 2006).

Tourist Attitude

The theory of planned behavior, as earlier noted is often applied in a tourism context, linking intention, with choice of destination, and future travel behavior (Baloglu, 1998).
Tourist satisfaction, leads to increased demand and travel recommendations and hence significantly impacts behavioral intention. Satisfaction is influenced by several components, namely quality of service, attitude, motivation, and destination image (Lee, 2009).
More specifically, tourist attitude can successfully determine tourist satisfaction, and future behavior. Importantly, tourist attitude constitutes elements such as cognitive, affective, and conative respectively, with the cognition reflected in evaluative judgments concerning a trip, the affect portrayed in the preference a tourist exhibits towards visiting a destinations, and lastly, the conation refers to the behavioral intention to conduct a trip (Lee, 2009). In fact, Lee (2009) tourists who hold positive cognitive beliefs over a destination experience increased satisfaction, which leads to future, repeated travel behavior (Lee, 2009). Nevertheless, a tourist attitude towards a destination alters after the completion of the trip, and as such the destination experience predicts future travel behavioral intention (Baloglu, 1998).

1. Introduction 
1.1. Background
1.2. Problem definition and purpose
1.3. Research questions
1.4. Methodology
1.5. Limitations and delimitations
1.6. Contributions
1.7. Key words
2. Literature Review 
2.1. Theoretical Framework
2.2. Wellness Tourism Industry .
3. Methodology 
3.1. Philosophical Worldviews
3.2. Research Approach
3.3. Research Method
3.4. Ethical Considerations
4. Results 
4.1.1. Cognitive-oriented themes
4.1.2. Affective-oriented themes
4.1.3. Conative-oriented themes
5. Discussion 
5.1. Cognitive Component
6. Conclusion 
6.1. Answer to the research question .
6.2. Theoretical and managerial implications
6.3. Limitations
6.4. Future Research
7. References
8. Appendix 
8.1.1. Interview Guide
9. List of Tables 
10. List of Figures 
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT
Wellness Tourism Through the lens of millennials’ attitude