An Examination of Personal Values and Information Sources Within a Travel Planning Framework

Communication professionals continually strive to advance methods for predicting consumer behavior as related to successful message consumption. Of noted importance is the increased worth consumers are placing on "individualism. " The overarching question, "What -personally -is in it for me? " must be answered every time an organization develops a message for its intended audiences. One successful way to personalize the message is by tapping into a consumer's core values system. This study investigates the relationship between individuals’ personal value importance and information source usefulness. Value theory serves as the theoretical framework. Overview Communication professionals continually strive to advance methods for predicting consumer behavior as related to successful message consumption. Of noted importance is the increased worth consumers are placing on "individualism. " The overarching question, "What -personally -is in it for me? " must be answered every time an organization develops a message for its intended audiences. One successful way to personalize the message is by tapping into a consumer's core values system. This study investigates the relationship between individuals’ personal value importance and information source usefulness. Value theory serves as the theoretical framework. During the study, the following research questions were investigated: RQ1: To what extent can information sources be categorized? RQ2: Which personal values have a significant influence on the kinds of information sources travelers use when planning pleasure trips? RQ3: What is the dominant personal value among Michigan residents? RQ4: What is the dominant personal value among Illinois residents? The study is broken up into four stages of analysis. Stage One entails a factor analysis of the information sources to identify underlying factor dimensions. Stage Two examines the data for significant relationships between personal values and the information source factors. Stage Three further examines the data for significant relationships among personal values, information source factors, and select demographics. Stage Four encompasses a multiple regression analysis to examine -overall -how personal value importance predicts information source usefulness when controlling for select demographics. Results indicate that information sources can be represented via three factors: mass media, travel-tourism, and word-of-mouth. Further, certain personal values do have a significant influence on information source usefulness. In particular, people who deem sense of accomplishment as important in their lives report a higher usefulness of mass media sources. Additionally, all nine values are significantly related to word-of-mouth information. Finally, this study's results reinforce the reliability and validity of the List of Values (LOV) developed by Kahle (1984, 1984, 1986) as an instrument to measure individual personal value importance. Consumer purchasing, as it relates to the travel industry, is big business. During 1998 U.S. resident travelers spent nearly $425 billion while traveling within the United States, comprising 82.3 percent of the total U.S. travel expenditures. Spending by U.S. residents and international travelers in the U.S. generated an average $1.36 billion a day, $56.5 million an hour, $941,971 a minute, and $15,700 a second. In 1998 the travel, tourism and hospitality industry generated an estimated $515 billion in total expenditures in the United States (including both domestic and international travel). Expenditures for 1999 are projected to jump 6% to $547 billion. But economic impact is not the only poignant characteristic indicative to this industry. In terms of output, the travel industry spends an enormous amount of money to promote its products and services to its target audiences. State travel offices spent nearly $524 million on tourism promotion and development throughout the 1998-99 fiscal year. This figure averages out to $10.7 million per state. From that $524 million total, more than $160 million was earmarked for domestic advertising, representing an 8 percent increase over last year's figures. In all, the average state tourism budget has increased 30% over the past five years. Tourism offices understand the benefits that can be reaped from message dissemination. Therefore, state tourism promotion expenditures continue to escalate in order to increase visitation. The dynamic growth the travel industry is experiencing has substantial implications for communication managers. As the travel/tourism profession continues to progress at a massive pace, so does the barrage of messages being disseminated by the hundreds upon thousands of organizations which make up the hospitality, travel, and 1 Assistant Professor, School of Journalism, University of Tennessee. E-mail: Lfall@utk.edu