Journal of Travel Research
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Seniors' Travel Constraints and Their Coping Strategies
Azadeh Kazeminia, Giacomo Del Chiappa and Jafar Jafari
Journal of Travel Research published online 8 October 2013
DOI: 10.1177/0047287513506290
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research-article2013
JTRXXX10.1177/0047287513506290Journal of Travel ResearchKazeminia et al.
Article
Seniors’ Travel Constraints and Their
Coping Strategies
Journal of Travel Research
XX(X) 1­–14
© 2013 SAGE Publications
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DOI: 10.1177/0047287513506290
jtr.sagepub.com
Azadeh Kazeminia1, Giacomo Del Chiappa2,
and Jafar Jafari3
Abstract
This article utilized content analysis of seniors’ narratives on the Internet to uncover the central themes related to their
perceptions of travel constraints and the ways through which seniors negotiate such barriers. The study results suggest
that aging is associated with alterations in the order of salient constraints proposed by the hierarchy of leisure constraints
theory, which in turn affect seniors’ preferences for “safe” options such as packaged tours. Using gerontology and decisionmaking theories, the article provides conceptual and methodological contributions to the literature. It also offers practical
recommendations for businesses responding to the tourism needs and expectations of the fastest-growing tourism market
segment worldwide: the senior population.
Keywords
senior tourists, constraints, content analysis, Leximancer
Introduction
“One out of every 9 Americans is old; another former youth
turns 50 every 8 seconds,” “by 2030, 55 countries are
expected to see their 65 and older populations grow to at
least 20 percent of their present total,” and “by 2050, Europe
will continue to be the world’s oldest region with its senior
population increasing more than fivefold, from 40 million to
219 million” (http://transgenerational.org/aging/demographics.htm). These remarks and the studies backing them have
raised awareness among academic and business communities of the growing power of the silver (or senior citizen)
market, the population segment whose growing size is aided
by aging and demographic trends (Nimrod 2008).
Today’s seniors enjoy a higher level of wealth, more leisure time, and a greater desire to travel than their predecessors. Many are active, enjoying flexible schedules, taking
frequent and longer holidays, and outspending the youth
market on leisure activities (Baloglu and Shoemaker 2001;
Huang and Tsai 2003). Hence, it is not surprising that the
tourism industry has begun to recognize the potential of this
market, and a growing body of research has explored various aspects of seniors’ needs and expectations, mostly over
the last two decades (Fleischer and Pizam 2002; Nimrod
2008; Nyaupane and Andereck 2008; Sedgley, Pritchard,
and Morgan 2011).
Most research findings differentiate seniors from the
young in terms of their tourism decisions, such as propensity to travel, destination activity participation, and travel
philosophy (Nimrod 2008; Romsa and Blenman 1989). The
literature also shows that even though leisure forms a significant part of postretirement life (Milman 1998)―in fact,
Wiss (2005) went as far as to acknowledge it as the essence
of retirement―seniors might face more constraints in terms
of their participation (cited in Nimrod 2008), including
declining health capacity, reduced income, and loss of significant partners (McGuire 1984; Nimrod 2008).
These constraints influence seniors’ leisure decisions and
decrease their level of participation, especially in outdoor
and physical activities (Kim and Chalip 2004; Son, Mowen,
and Kerstetter 2008; Um and Crompton 1992). Therefore,
leisure constraints, defined as “the perceived or experienced
reasons which [limit or] prohibit an individual from leisureactivity participation” (Hawkins et al. 1999, p. 180), play an
important role in seniors’ travel decisions (Jang et al. 2009).
Akin to the rest of the literature about seniors’ travel
behavior, studies to date on perceived constraints appear to
suffer from excessive reliance on quantitative methods
(Patterson 2006); hence, although evocative, they have failed
to offer a deep understanding of the factors influencing older
adults’ perceptions and the ways in which they negotiate
1
Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
University of Sassari & CRENoS, Via Muroni, Sassari, Italy
3
Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
2
Corresponding Author:
Azadeh Kazeminia, Division of Industrial Marketing and e-Commerce,
Luleå University of Technology, Porsön Campus, Luleå, SE-971 87,
Sweden.
Email: azade.kazeminia@ltu.se
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2
Journal of Travel Research XX(X)
Intrapersonal
constraints
Interpersonal
constraints
Structural
constraints
Interpersonal
compatibility &
coordination
Leisure preferences
Level
of participation
Motivation
Figure 1. Leisure constraints model.
Source: Adopted from Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey (1991).
travel constraints. In addition, most related endeavors lack a
robust theoretical framework for interpreting the revealed
constraints; thus, several questions have remained unanswered. As a result, along with such researchers as Sedgley
et al. (2011) and Patterson (2006), they called not only for
the application of more qualitative methods to examine the
full breadth of the subject but also for more cross-disciplinary
enquiries—particularly in gerontology—to provide meaningful insight into the lives of this population.
Benefiting from these perspectives, this study relies on
content analysis of the text produced by seniors themselves
in tourism websites. The Internet serves as a rich source of
narratives by individuals about their ideas, feelings, plans,
hopes and fears, expectations, experiences, and much more.
Among other things, analysis of this large volume of
consumer-generated text and context provides valuable
insights into various aspects of the tourism experience, ideas,
and memories (Gretzel and Yoo 2008). This study draws
on the model of hierarchical leisure constraints (HLC)
(Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey 1991) as a basis for comprehension of constraints and negotiation strategies and
employs a powerful tool, the content analysis software
Leximancer (Campbell et al. 2011), to understand seniors’
comments. This article contributes to the tourism literature
by introducing theoretical approaches to a better understanding of senior tourists’ behavior and therefore the market.
Understanding the Senior Tourism
Market
Perceived Travel Constraints
The consumer behavior literature maintains that people
involve themselves only in action whose perceived risk falls
within their “acceptable” range (Bojanic and Warnick 2012).
Perceived constraints not only determine the probability of
taking or avoiding an action but also influence the way in
which consumers approach a product. Similar to other consumption decisions, perception of constraints plays a pivotal
role in selecting or avoiding certain destinations (Hsu, Cai,
and Li 2010), willingness to participate in various travel
activities (Kim and Chalip 2004), as well as the likelihood of
revisiting destinations (Lepp and Gibson 2003). Therefore,
perceived constraints should be considered just as influential
as the decision-maker’s attitudes toward alternative destinations (Hsu and Kang 2009).
Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey’s well-received model of
HLC (Figure 1) proposed three interrelated categories of leisure constraints (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural)
that determine participation and also influence formation of
leisure preferences (Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey 1991;
Raymore et al. 1993). According to this model, constraints
are aligned in a sequential manner such that “participation
depends upon the successful confrontation of each constraint
level in turn” (Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey 1991, p. 314).
According to the hierarchical model, the most powerful
constraints are intrapersonal because they shape individuals’ leisure preferences and also account for their “will to
act.” These constraints refer to individual psychological
status (e.g., stress, fatigue, anxiety, depression) and attitudes that “influence leisure preferences rather than intervening between preferences and participation” (Crawford,
Jackson, and Godbey 1991, p. 311). For instance, perceived self-skill, kin and nonkin attitudes, and perceived
appropriateness of activities are included in this category
(Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey 1991; Hawkins et al.
1999), as well as physical and mental constraints (Nyaupane
and Andereck 2008).
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Kazeminia et al.
After intrapersonal constraints have been negotiated or
confronted, leisure preferences are formed (Crawford,
Jackson, and Godbey 1999). Then, the process continues
through the sequential negotiation of first interpersonal and
then structural constraints to attain participation (Hawkins et al.
1999). The former are related to relationships with others.
The difficulty of finding someone with whom to enjoy recreational opportunities and the existence of many family obligations are examples of constraints in this category (Raymore
et al. 1993). Interpersonal issues affect both preferences and
participation and are likely to change over one’s life. These
constraints depend on family size, marital status, and type of
activity (Nyaupane and Andereck 2008). Finally, structural
constraints (such as lack of time, information, money, opportunity, transportation, and facilities) involve resources and
reasons that interrupt the relationship between leisure preferences and activity participation (Hawkins et al. 1999).
When getting involved in leisure activities, people must
negotiate leisure constraints. In other words, as Jackson,
Crawford, and Godbey (1993, p. 4) stated, “participation
depends not on the absence of constraints but on negotiation
through them. Such negotiation may modify rather than foreclose participation.” Individuals employ a variety of negotiation strategies, including time management, interpersonal
coordination, skill acquisition, and financial resources management (Son, Mowen, and Kerstetter 2008). For instance,
people may learn new activities or acquire new information
to improve their travel skills. The extent to which people
actively negotiate constraints is a function of the interaction
between constraints and motivation―meaning that for stronger participation motivations, individuals are more likely to
negotiate constraints.
Senior Travel Constraints
A recent meta-analysis of the findings on leisure constraints
demonstrated that the perception of constraints is contingent
on the nature and characteristics of participants and leisure
activities (Godbey, Crawford, and Shen 2010). In other
words, when considering a certain destination, one may
focus on interpersonal constraints (e.g., being a victim of
crime) while another may concentrate on structural constraints (e.g., lack of time). Thus, consideration of individual and activity-related factors is recommended when
investigating perception of constraints (Godbey, Crawford,
and Shen 2010).
Of direct relevance, sociodemographic factors, such as
age and retirement status, contribute to the variations in perception of leisure constraints (Hsu and Kang 2009). Among
the most emphasized finding is that as the life cycle progresses, the importance of distance and people’s behaviors
before, during, and after a trip tend to change (Romsa and
Blenman 1989). The priority of distance-related constraints
is thought to stem from health and mobility issues associated
with age (Nordbakke 2013; Reece 2004). Nonetheless, for
those not facing such problems, aging and retirement might
provide an opportunity to travel farther (Fleischer and Pizam
2002; Hsu and Kang 2009; Nimrod 2008).
Cost- and time-related constraints, which are the most
important impediments experienced by other age groups,
tend to be relaxed in old age (Nyaupane and Andereck 2008).
However, evidence still suggests that financial barriers are
the most important inhibitors for seniors (Fleischer and
Pizam 2002). As for time-related barriers, some studies have
argued that as people age, their time constraints tend to
increase (Hsu and Kang 2009). This is assumed to be true
because of the deteriorating health status of these seniors.
Researchers have also put forth limitations in access to information and planning requirements as seniors’ travel restraints
(McGuire, Dottavio, and O’Leary 1986).
While the existing literature tends to be informative, it
suffers from two important gaps. First, it heavily focuses on
structural barriers at the expense of intrapersonal and interpersonal restrictions. Although a few studies have mentioned
such nonstructural constraints as lack of approval, emotional
costs, and lack of companion (McGuire, Dottavio, and
O’Leary 1986), more investigation is required. This is evidenced by the merits suggesting that seniors tend to be less
constrained by structural factors than younger groups
(Nyaupane and Andereck 2008) and also by the fact that,
according to the theory of hierarchical constraints, structural
barriers are at the secondary level of importance, and travel
preferences are primarily a function of intra- and interpersonal constraints (Hawkins et al. 1999).
Second, the process by which seniors negotiate various
constraints remains underexplored. It is understood that willingness to cope with constraints is indicated in conjunction
with travel motivations. Life span psychology has acknowledged a range of motivational age-related changes that presumably influence leisure motivations (Carstensen, Fung,
and Charles 2003). Thus far, studies have specified a number
of coping strategies among seniors, including reducing participation, substituting the trip with other leisure activities,
changing their style (e.g., reducing physical exertion
involved in traveling), ignoring the constraints, and employing emotional remedies for taking the trip regardless (Nimrod
2008; Son, Mowen, and Kerstetter 2008). Yet, the role of
proposed age-related motivational changes in the ways
seniors approach constraints and the strategies they adopt in
different situations demand further investigation and elaboration. Through an analysis of seniors’ narratives, the next
section explores the main determining constraints to understand how these limitations can explain seniors’ tourism
preferences and their participation based on the HLC model.
Moreover, it offers insights into the influence of age-related
motivational alterations in the coping strategies of seniors.
Prior to investigation of seniors’ leisure constraints, it is
necessary to elaborate on what is meant by “old.” In fact,
there is no consensus on how to describe the senior market.
Therefore, various researchers have adopted different
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Journal of Travel Research XX(X)
thresholds, such as 50+ (Shoemaker 2000), 55+ (Fleischer
and Pizam 2002), and 65+ (Jang and Wu 2006). Some have
also considered various subgroups for a heterogeneous
senior market (Baron 2008). More recent endeavors, however, have suggested that the substantial differences
between the mindset age and the actual birth certificate
date or chronological age might be misleading in interpreting consumer decisions (Faranda and Schmidt 2000).
Hence, researchers have argued that cognitive age or selfperceived age, which measures how people feel or think,
might be a better means of analyzing and predicting the
behavior of the mature-person market (Faranda and
Schmidt 2000). This idea has been reinforced by the growing number of elderly who, because of better health and
financial circumstances, perceive themselves as younger
and behave in ways similar to the youth (Sellick 2004).
Against this backdrop, the present article adopts the concept of cognitive age as the onset of age-related changes.
Senior Tourists’ Conversations
Study Method
The exploration of seniors’ attitudes toward travel constraints began with a review of travel blogs and interactive
destination sites. This revealed several websites and
blogs in which people exchange experiences, including
Tripadvisor.com, LonelyPlanet.com, Virtualtourists.com,
and RoughGuide.com, among others. For several reasons,
Tripadvisor.com was chosen as a source of data. It is the
world’s largest travel site, with 20 million members and
more than 50 million monthly reviews and opinions
(Gretzel and Yoo 2008); in addition, it is one of the most
used travel blogs in marketing research (Banyai and Glover
2012).
And most important, Tripadvisor.com appears to be the
sole tourism-related social network that includes age in its
members’ profiles, thus facilitating recognition of different
age groups. Furthermore, in November 2009, this platform
established a forum specific to seniors (defined as people
aged 50 and older) in which visitors share their ideas, ask
questions, comment on or join discussions, and provide
travel suggestions. Use of the seniors’ forum was consistent
with our adopted approach to old age as a cognitive phenomenon; given that people participating in this forum perceive
themselves as seniors, they are more likely to constitute a
proper representative sample of the senior segment. However,
it is worth noting that, considering the evidence of behavioral differences among various age subgroups of the senior
market (Baron 2008), the comments were classified in
advance based on participants’ age into 50–64 and 65+ files.
However, since 65+ seniors offered few comments, any
inference based on their comments seemed unrepresentative;
therefore, the analysis was based on the 50–64 category
comments.
The senior forum is structured in the form of one-to-many
talks, meaning that one person can raise a question and
others can offer comments and advice regarding that specific
topic. In other words, not every post receives an answer from
a helper. At the time of the study, approximately 7,000 people were interacting with questions and suggestions on the
forum but not everyone was self-declaring his or her age. To
guarantee the highest validity, we extracted comments only
from people who had explicitly declared their age. The data
used in this study cover all the comments in the forum since
its beginning (November 2009) to the date of data gathering
(October 2011).
Data Analysis
This study takes an inductive analytical approach to understand seniors’ narratives. We used the content analysis
method because it is acknowledged as one of the most appropriate methods for interpreting verbatim data (Christensen
and Olson 2002). Researchers have also recognized analysis
of naturally occurring materials, such as conversations, narratives, and email exchanges, as a valuable source of knowledge about behavior. Such materials entail a great deal of
spontaneity and ecological validity given that “they are not
reactive in a sense that the person is not aware of and affected
by the measurement process” (Smith 2000, p. 315). While
we analyzed the narratives inductively, we further discussed
the results with the help of theoretical deductions of the
existing theoretical knowledge related to seniors’ decision
making, motivation, and risk perception.
Content analysis is conducted using two major approaches:
thematic analysis and semantic analysis. Utilizing a new
content analysis software, Leximancer, this study conducts
both thematic and semantic analysis simultaneously to scrutinize the corpus. The software works based on data mining
and grounded fashion machine-learning techniques to detect
not only the key concepts in a corpus but also how these
concepts are semantically interrelated (Rooney 2005).
Leximancer works using word frequency and co-occurrence
counts as data (Rooney 2005). Specifically, it produces “a
concept co-occurrence matrix” based on frequency data
and data about the co-occurrence of concepts. Once a concept is produced, the software identifies “a thesaurus of
words” that are closely related to the concept, thereby generating semantic or definitional content around the concept
(Rooney 2005). The final output of the software is “conceptual maps” that provide “a pictorial representation of
groups’ thinking” (Trochim 1989, p. 2). Conceptual maps
“display[ing] all the ideas of the group relative to the topic
at hand [show that ideas] are related to each other and,
optionally, [show] which ideas are more relevant, important,
or appropriate” (p. 2).
Conceptual maps produced by Leximancer portray themes
and concepts in the form of circles and dots, whereby large
circles in the conceptual maps represent key themes from a
document and dots represent concepts. The relative position
of the circles and dots, as well as their distance from each
other, demonstrates the strength of the semantic links among
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5
Kazeminia et al.
Table 1. Summary of Statistics for Two Data Sets.
Items
Number of comments
Number of words
Questions
194
8,935
Answers
517
49,064
Table 2. Leximancer Concept Frequencies.
Total
711
57,999
those concepts in the text. This means that when two concepts are close together or overlap in the map, they have
close semantic links (Campbell et al. 2011). In addition, the
color and size of each circle and dot represent the importance
of that specific theme in the conversation. In particular,
brighter and warmer (e.g., red, orange, yellow) colors and
larger theme circles and concept dots indicate greater importance within the text.
As evidenced by previous studies (Campbell et al. 2011),
Leximancer entails a high level of reliability by offering stability and reproducibility (Rooney 2005). The maps generated for the purpose of this study were highly stable as well.
To improve the validity of conceptual maps, we completed a
data-cleaning procedure at the outset. Specifically, all the
posted comments were scanned to correct misspellings and
grammatical flaws. Then, remarks made by tour operators or
agents with the aim of providing travel-related information
under the title of “travel expert” were removed since they
might mislead our findings. In the next step, the postings
were divided into post and pre stages.
This was done in accordance with the decision-making
models’ suggestion that people show different information
search behavior pre- and postdecisions (Carneiro and
Crompton 2010). To see whether the data set at hand showed
the same pattern, the first author carefully studied all the
postings, concluding that the people who were asking questions and answering them differed significantly. More specifically, those who posed questions were in their pretravel
stage, looking for information to make better decisions.
Hence, their questions could be considered to reflect pretravel concerns and issues.
In contrast, answers were posted by those who had posttravel experience. Therefore, comments by the latter group
revealed some of the reasons behind their concerns and often
provided insights into their strategies to negotiate constraints,
their motivations, and their future behavior. Thus, the corpus of
the narratives was divided into two distinct MS Word files:
question and answer. Overall, we had 517 answers for 194
questions, accounting for 115 pages. Table 1 shows the number
of comments and words in each file. Finally, each of the files
was used as input for the content analysis software package.
Study Results
The research results are presented and discussed separately
for the pre- and posttravel phases. Table 2 presents the results
of thematic analysis of the corpus, including the concepts,
their frequencies as identified by the software, and the percentage of occurrence based on the number of comments in
Pretravel
Concepts
Travel
Hotel
Trip
Time
Use
Tour
Days
Look
Cruise
Take
Book
Place
Year
People
Site
Forum
Insurance
Company
Stay
Old
City
Offer
Card
Third party
Visit
Weeks
Travelers’
Work
Room
Experience
Love
Home
Best
World
Enjoy
Better
Website
Able
Money
Large
Local
Free
Check
Problem
Others
Ship
Couple
Plan
Holiday
Senior
Months
Walking
Friend
Suggestions
Limited
%
Posttravel
Frequencies
%
Frequencies
100
38
58
27
26
10
15
7
77
38
58
23
35
20
10
15
6
9
35
9
42
35
11
9
31
8
100
74
59
51
49
41
41
37
35
34
35
31
26
28
27
27
23
23
24
19
22
18
20
21
22
27
7
283
210
166
145
138
115
116
106
100
95
99
87
73
78
75
76
66
65
67
53
63
51
58
60
62
51
56
53
48
43
46
42
44
41
43
41
39
37
33
28
28
53
49
43
36
32
35
9
54
50
35
31
27
27
27
19
14
13
9
8
7
7
7
5
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18
20
19
17
15
16
15
16
14
15
14
14
13
12
10
10
19
17
15
13
11
6
Journal of Travel Research XX(X)
Figure 2. The concept map of questions.
the sample. For instance, “tour” appears 20 times in the file
related to questions and 115 times in the file related to
answers. These counts were recorded as 77% and 41% occurrence, respectively, given the two sample sizes. As illustrated
in Table 2, there are discrepancies across the pre- and posttravel stages not only in terms of the concepts that emerged
uniquely for each corpus but with respect to the frequency
and the percentage of occurrence of the concepts that
appeared in both data sets.
Leximancer provides the researcher with the opportunity
to drill down through a concept and explore its thesaurus of
words to further understand the chunks of text from which
the concept has been drawn (Rooney 2005). This enabled us
to probe and interpret the concepts and themes that emerged
from the corpus with a detailed analysis of comments.
Figures 2 and 3 represent the conceptual maps produced by
Leximancer for the questions and answers, respectively. The
major extracted themes and concepts are presented below.
Pretravel Conversation Themes. The five major themes (bigger
circles in Figure 2) that emerged from the conceptual map of
the questions were “looking,” “tour,” “advice,” “travel,” and
“insurance” (however, in the diagram, other themes are
graphically less prominent). These themes were interpreted
based on a detailed analysis of comments.
The most prominent theme (the largest circle with red
color) was “looking,” which primarily refers to inquiries for
information about different aspects of trip planning. This category represents the major issues of concern to seniors at the
pretravel stage. In other words, greater relevance between
looking and the other themes and concepts (circles and dots
closer to the “looking” theme) means that seniors asked
about that specific issue more frequently than the rest.
Analyses of the semantic relationships among “looking” and
other concepts suggested that the former has a strong semantic correlation with the “tour” conceptual theme (r = 0.87).
This can be seen clearly in the map since the dots relating to
the concepts are closely situated.
Conversations around the concept of “tour” were mainly
related to inquiries about a proper program well adjusted to
seniors’ needs and limitations. Physical constraints were
among the most frequent limitations; hence, some were
looking for tours with the smallest walking requirement.
This group also favored relaxing trips with lower levels of
physical activity. As the conceptual map shows, “insurance,” the second theme, was the concept most related to
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Kazeminia et al.
Figure 3. The concept map of answers.
“travel,” suggesting that the discussions about insurance
generated a great deal of debate. Seniors stated the difficulties faced when purchasing medical insurance coverage,
with preexisting health issues the most common prohibiting
factor that made insurance coverage either unavailable or
unaffordable.
The third theme, “day,” was related to the length of stay
(commonly 7–15 days), as well as the itinerary of the
intended trip. This category also encompassed the “hotel”
concept, which basically addressed characteristics favored
by seniors. “Beach view,” “not hilly,” and “having seniors in
mind” were among the words or phrases with which seniors
described their favorite accommodations. With respect to
“travel,” the fourth theme, seniors asked for information on
their choice of attractions and inquired about arrangements
and planning to accomplish before the trip. Another discussion topic in this theme was how to find a travel partner. This
suggests that many seniors perceive the lack of a travel companion as a constraint. In contrast to the tour concept, the
“travel” theme was surprisingly distinct from “looking” (r =
0.68), suggesting that seniors search for advice and
information related to tours more than to the destination
itself. This resembles Nyaupane and Andereck’s (2008) findings that destination attributes are not as important to seniors
when constraints are no longer an issue (Hsu and Kang
2009).
Overall, two main constraints can be identified based on
the pretravel stage conversations: physical issues and lack of
companion. The need to reduce the planning requirements
was also evident in the debates related to “tour.” In return,
seniors seem to employ the strategy of buying packaged
tours and insurance to overcome constraints.
Posttravel Conversation Themes. Figure 3 displays the five
main themes that emerged from seniors’ answers: “travel,”
“hotel,” “time,” “use,” and “insurance.”
“Travel” was the first and most prominent theme (the biggest circle). It primarily involved the general trip experience
and having a good time. Among posted recommendations,
an emphasis on the tranquility of the places visited and
nostalgic atmospheres was common. Instead of rushing from
one place to another and attempting to visit as many sites as
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8
Journal of Travel Research XX(X)
possible in a short time, seniors preferred enjoying their time
and visiting fewer sites but in a more thorough manner. This
theme encompassed the concept of “tour,” which could be
considered an answer to inquiries regarding packaged tours
as a tool for negotiating constraints. Conversations around
the “tour” concept revealed four streams:
1. Loyalty to Tour Operators: Respondents provided
recommendations about tour operators and companies
that offer proper services to seniors. As illustrated in
the conceptual map of the answers, the travel theme
included one of the operators specified in seniors’
tours (Overseas Adventure Travel, OAT), which correlates strongly to the tour concept (r = 0.89). This
suggests a great deal of talk about specific tour operators, which in turn shows a high level of loyalty to
them. A detailed review of the related comments
revealed that seniors frequently utilize word of mouth
as a way to recommend their favorite tour operator,
such as Grand Circle Travel (GCT), Viking, or OAT.
The atmosphere of the tours, the friendliness, and the
helpfulness of tour staff, along with personal attention, were among the important characteristics upon
which seniors based their recommendations of tours
to others:
A friend of mine went on the OAT Ultimate Africa trip last
year. He and his wife have been going on OAT tours for years,
so they clearly enjoy the OAT formula, and they absolutely
loved this trip.
I prefer the OAT itineraries as they are usually a lot more “up
close and personal” and much more adventurous, whereas GCT
is into softer travel.
2. Tours as a Tool to Overcome Interpersonal Constraints:
Seniors mentioned that traveling as part of a tour provides them with a good opportunity to find companions. A considerable number of comments made by
females emphasized their unwillingness to go on trips
because of their lack of a companion. Perhaps that is
why many suggested forming clubs or forums for
women wanting to travel:
I guess there are a lot of us out there. I am in my 50’s and love
to travel but my husband will no longer go. . . . I’ve been
travelling with my adult daughter for the last 12 years which I
really enjoy, but I do realize that she will probably get married
soon and I will lose my travel buddy. I looked for women’s
travel groups and didn’t really find much.
In the same vein, entries described characteristics of an
appropriate tour in terms of type of companion. Many mentioned the intense pleasure of traveling with relatives (specifically, partners, grandchildren, and children). For instance,
a man from California enthusiastically talked about his
enjoyable experience with his grandchild and suggested
forming a grandchild forum in Tripadvisor.com:
My wife and I have 12 grandchildren and have provided a
“grandtrip” to each as they graduate from high school—just
finishing our 9th trip by rail to Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague,
Vienna and Salzburg. . . . We have enjoyed these trips so much
. . . my wife and I talk over the possibilities of various travel
destinations with the grandchild who will be taking the trip and
encourage him/her to choose a friend to travel with and begin
the “search” for places they and we would like to go.
Serving the aim of more intimate relationships, seniors
appeared to prefer relatively small groups, and this seemed
to be an indicating factor in their assessment of tour operators’ arrangements. Moreover, based on their narratives,
seniors appear to favor traveling with people of their own age:
I would want a smaller tour that takes a slower pace, not rushing
from place to place.
We normally prefer travelling with OAT because of the small
groups—max 16 people. Four of our OAT tours had 15 people,
and one tour had only 11 people.
3. Packaged Tours as a Way to Simplify Travel Decisions:
Among the advantages of group travel, many debated the
role of tour operators in simplifying the process of planning and decision making. For example, a 60-year-old
California woman discussed the advantages of group
tours versus planning all aspects of the trip on her own:
I usually research compulsively and spend a lot of time making
decisions and reservations. And sometimes I get lonely on my
solo trips as an older woman. So I had thought that finding the
right travel or tour company might save me some of the extended
planning time and MIGHT save some money, as well as put me
with other people with whom I might become friendly.
4. Packaged Tours to Reduce Risk and Uncertainty:
Packaged tours were suggested as a safe way to reduce
the uncertainties associated with unfamiliar places,
languages, and cultures. The desire to avoid uncertainty was frequently observed in conversations about
hotel issues, wherein many emphasized the necessity
of pre-planning and purchasing travel insurance. This
can be seen in many comments, such as “we really
want the tour we have paid for in full in advance,” or “I
do plan my trips far in advance.”
The second prominent theme in the text of answers was
“hotel.” This concept implicitly provided clues to the
information search strategies of seniors. In the dialogues,
participants shared their experiences regarding “how to
find a good hotel,” “how to book hotel rooms directly
from hotel websites,” and “how third-party websites can
be helpful or disruptive.” Seniors talked about better ways
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Kazeminia et al.
to find hotel-related information. For many, reading
reviews of hotel rooms, specifically those written by
seniors themselves, was considered a must before making
a reservation.
Participants also talked about websites that contain helpful information and offer good deals, especially on hotel
rooms. These websites, as well as those of tour operators,
were debated as good places to obtain information and make
reservations directly. Discussion of third-party websites
mainly related to their reliability. Reviewers were concerned
with their websites’ fine print and the deals they offered,
hence favoring the use of the hotels’ own websites to make
reservations and find information.
“Time” (earlier in the article, “day” dealt with the duration of the trip, the third theme) centered on the duration of
the trips that seniors had taken before. There were suggestions about the length of time needed to visit different attractions while keeping the cost affordable. The fourth theme,
“use,” centered on conversations about the possibility of
using credit cards for payments and getting cash from automated teller machines (ATMs). Similarly, many seniors discussed the availability of mobile phone services and the
possibility of using locked mobile sets (such as iPhones and
Blackberries) during the trip.
The fifth theme, “insurance,” was again related to health
insurance coverage and insurance companies’ policies. The
emphasis on the necessity of buying good insurance coverage in advance was repeatedly mentioned in seniors’ comments, such as “get travel insurance” and “I would never
travel abroad without insurance.” Physical issues and the
need for medical services at the destination were also discussed at considerable length. According to these dialogues,
the main problem with obtaining proper medical insurance
coverage was that preexisting health issues are not covered.
Theoretical Propositions
The concepts that emerged and their relationships offered
insights for answering the research questions regarding the
main constraints that influence or hinder seniors from undertaking travel activities and the main ways in which they deal
with those constraints.
Interpersonal constraints. The concepts and resulting conceptual maps contained no statements such as “feeling guilty or
bad,” “perceptions of being too old,” and “concern over
approval by friends and family members,” which would
reflect perceptions of self and personal skills, as well as the
attitudes of kin and nonkin, defined by Crawford, Jackson,
and Godbey (1991) as intrapersonal constraints. In contrast,
state of hope and high level of interest in seeing new places
and experiencing new cultures, which represent a positive
attitude toward traveling, were found frequently in the comments as well as the concepts, suggesting that the level of
intrapersonal constraints perceived by seniors is not very
high (Hawkins et al. 1999). The sole intrapersonal constraint
that appeared in the conversations was related to health
issues and “perceptions of being sick.” From this viewpoint,
the study findings were consistent with those of Romsa and
Blenman (1989) and Sellick (2004).
Seniors seem to be attempting to negotiate the intrapersonal constraints by finding proper health insurance coverage and joining less active, less adventurous tours (e.g., tours
with fewer walking requirements). Among other advantages,
traveling with tours seems to be perceived as a support system for those who are physically disadvantaged. Therefore,
in line with Burnett and Baker’s (2001) finding as to the
effect of the severity of age-related difficulties, one may conclude that except for those who are too old or face serious
health and mobility problems, these issues act as limiters
rather than inhibitors (McGuire, Dottavio, and O’Leary
1986). In other words, conforming to the HLC model, the
existence of intrapersonal barriers and the willingness to
cope with them may influence seniors’ travel preferences
(e.g., shorter and less active modes of travel) rather than their
ultimate participation.
Interpersonal constraints. Constraints that were identified as
fitting into the interpersonal category were found to be the
most powerful concerns of seniors at the time of travel decision making. The absence of partners and friends to travel
with and barriers related to spouse preferences not only interacted with seniors’ preferences but also influenced the likelihood of their participation. These constraints, which might
arise due to the death of a partner or marriage of children, can
indeed terminate seniors’ interest in travel.
In negotiating interpersonal constraints, some people,
such as the woman with a high desire to explore new places
despite no longer having the company of her husband and
daughter, employ various strategies, including purchasing
tours and joining travel groups with similar interests. Group
travel provides seniors with a chance to spend time with
“safe strangers” who may be warm toward them and also to
find a role that permits some level of participation (Schuchat
1983), thus improving their emotional well-being.
As another coping strategy, seniors may even disregard
their own preferences and conform to those of others to
please others and have their company (in the case of grandparents, for example, to travel with their grandchildren). This
observation may echo Nimrod’s (2008) findings suggesting
that in some situations seniors may change or even withdraw
their travel plans to care for their grandchildren. Overall,
interpersonal barriers in old age not only influence seniors’
travel preferences but, in deviating from HLC propositions,
may directly determine their level of participation.
Structural constraints. Though not apparent in the concept
maps, structural barriers were implicitly mentioned in relation to other concepts. For instance, financial costs that result
in modifications to the length of stay and difficulties in making online reservations due to lack of related skills were
acknowledged. Again, it seemed that these constraints were
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10
Journal of Travel Research XX(X)
limiters rather than prohibitors and, hence, negotiated by
various means such as substitution (e.g., choosing another
destination), economizing on aspects of the holiday (e.g.,
booking earlier or later, traveling close to home, shortening
the length of stay, switching to less expensive accommodations) (Bronner and de Hoog 2012).
While tourists’ behavior has been seriously affected by
the worldwide recession (Papatheodorou, Rosselló, and
Xiao 2010), our findings did not reveal any related concepts
in seniors’ narratives. This may support the previous studies
suggesting that seniors are less affected by the recession
than other age groups (Blanke and Chiesa 2009). In terms of
the difficulties of gathering information or reservations
requirements, seniors appear to use packaged tours as a
solution to minimize planning requirements and cede the
reservations responsibilities and related arrangements to
tour companies.
To recap, the most prominent travel constraint to seniors,
based on the concepts that emerged from the corpus of the
examined texts, are relation-driven or interpersonal constraints. At the next level of priority stand health-related constraints, which fall into the intrapersonal category, followed
by structural barriers as the most distal constraints. The study
findings seem to invalidate the order of importance of constraints, indicating leisure preferences and participation as
suggested by the theory of leisure hierarchy (intrapersonal,
interpersonal, and structural, respectively). In this sense, our
findings are worthy of more elaboration with respect to the
probable reasons behind the discrepancies and, hence, the
required modifications to the model (Godbey, Crawford, and
Shen 2010).
Speculations for a modified model of HLC for seniors. The consumer behavior literature implies that the importance of various purchase constraints is indicated relative to the threat
that those constraints might pose for the intended purchase
goals (Conchar et al. 2004). Thus, the constraints that menace the imperative purchase objectives receive more attention in consumers’ decision-making process, whereby people
in high need of affiliation have heightened concern over losing the company of mates (interpersonal constraints in this
context; Conchar et al. 2004). Thus, the prominence of interpersonal constraints and the fear of losing the company of
friends and relatives may reflect seniors’ prominent travel
goal, what Nimrod (2008) described as the desire to savor
time with loved ones.
In this sense, the study findings are congruent with the presumptions of socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), which
postulates that when people become aware of the “finitude”
of their lives, their motivations shift from future-oriented
goals such as seeking information or expanding horizons
(which optimize long-range outcomes) to emotionally meaningful goals that provide immediate payoffs (i.e., more happiness in each moment). These are “goals which are related to
feelings, such as balancing emotional states or sensing that
one is needed by others” (Fung and Carstensen 2006, p. 249).
According to SST, seniors’ focus on achieving emotional
goals also leads to changes in the constellation of their social
network; that is, while they actively enhance their relationships with emotionally meaningful partners, they intentionally discard less important relationships and at the same time
circumvent new social contacts, since these relationships
could potentially lead to unpleasant outcomes (Carstensen,
Fung, and Charles 2003). In the context of this study, the
case of grandchildren tours might exemplify how seniors
define pleasant experiences and proactively promote them.
Likewise, seniors’ emphasis on small tours, their freedom to
choose tour members, and being in the company of those
they already know might be evidence of their limited interest
in making new social contacts.
Against this backdrop, this study speculates a number of
modifications for the HLC model to fit to seniors’ context
(Figure 4). First, along with prioritization of emotionally
meaningful motives, any constraint that might threaten
emotionally meaningful social contacts (interpersonal constraints) may receive more attention and, hence, become a
greater indicator of seniors’ decisions and final behavior.
Therefore, this study proposes that as individuals progress to
the later stages of life, the hierarchy of their travel constraints
changes in such a way that interpersonal constraints become
the most proximal constraints and the ones that most heavily
affect their preferences (traveling on their own vs. purchasing package tours) and participation. For many seniors, a
lack of company was equivalent to losing the zest for travel
and consequently the willingness to participate.
The existence of ample empirical evidence suggesting
that spending time with family and being together as a family
constitute seniors’ most important travel motives (Nimrod
2008; Wing Sun Tung and Ritchie 2011) may lend support to
this proposition and reflect that seniors are motivated to
negotiate other travel constraints if the travel fulfills their
relational desires. The emphasis on brand-related risk reduction strategies, including purchasing insurance and loyalty to
tour operators, in the narratives also offers merit to the prominence of interpersonal constraints in old age, given that such
strategies that may guarantee the company of others are more
popular among people with greater family orientation and
higher need for affiliation (Seth and Parvatiyar 1995).
Therefore, in the model, two additional direct effects have
been considered for interpersonal constraints―one on “leisure preferences” and the other on “participation.”
The findings of this study are also similar to what Hawkins
et al. (1999) observed in regard to leisure constraints for people with mental retardation. In this sense, the current results
might not only lend support to the existing literature suggesting that old age is associated with deficits in cognitive capabilities but also portend that the suggested adjustments in the
HLC model can be applicable for predicting behavior of
other age segments with similar cognitive, motivational, or
emotional conditions.
The second proposition depicts the role of intrapersonal
constraints. Regulation of social networks and other mood
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Kazeminia et al.
Intrapersonal
Constraints
Interpersonal
Constraints
Leisure preferences
Structural
Constraints
Interpersonal
Compatibility &
Coordination
Level of
participation
Motivation
Figure 4. Modified model of HLC for seniors.
regulatory strategies (such as ignoring negative events and
performing downward social comparisons) means that older
adults experience a higher level of and longer duration
of positive emotions than their younger counterparts
(Carstensen, Fung, and Charles 2003). Accordingly, it is
plausible to speculate that seniors experience fewer intrapersonal constraints related to negative states of feeling, such as
anxiety and depression. Needless to say, the greater desire to
increase emotional experience leads the intrapersonal factors
to be very indicative in the formation of travel preferences.
The emphasis on tranquility of the environment and enjoying
time rather than rushing to see more attractions echoes such
preferences. As for physical constraints, the terminating role
of stark health issues in old age needs to be considered; this
is depicted in Figure 4 with a dashed line.
Finally, the study found that structural constraints can be
negotiated, except for cases of extreme levels that might prohibit participation. By no means is the level of perceived
structural constraints among seniors underestimated here;
instead, based on SST postulations, we suggest that older
adults might tend to negotiate less emotionally relevant constraints to improve their emotional state. Of note, the
observed concepts regarding information gathering and reservation difficulties and the manner in which seniors cope
with these issues are consistent with existing findings suggesting that seniors tend to act like expert decision makers―
that is, they seek out less information and rely more on
heuristics and past experiences when making up their minds
(Finucane 2008).
The psychology literature on aging explains that the
changes in information search behavior in old age are due to
age-associated deficits in cognitive capabilities (memory,
speed of processing, reasoning, and learning); this makes it
difficult to obtain and interpret multiple sources of information and make associated plans, as well as to learn new skills
(Finucane 2008). Coping with these issues, seniors are more
prone to routinize and generalize their purchase decisions
and consequently apply brand-related strategies (Seth and
Parvatiyar 1995), including forming loyalty to service providers and purchasing travel in the form of a totally planned
product. This simplifies their decision and frees them from
the need to gather and integrate information or make complex decisions (Finucane 2008).
Moreover, seniors’ higher reliance on travel agents, coupled with their willingness to engage in preplanned packaged
tours, represents their greater tendency to negotiate constraints and guarantee a risk-free leisure activity (Javalgi,
Thomas, and Rao 1992; Roehl and Fesenmaier 1992). This
seems to be concomitant with their higher tendency to avoid
emotional dissatisfaction. Benefiting from these studies, the
final proposition is that seniors are more likely to use packaged tours because the option comes with three major builtin benefits: constraint alleviation, uncertainty reduction, and
simplification of decisions.
Managerial Implications
This study offers meaningful implications for tour operators
and tour companies interested in formulating a marketing
plan and designing appropriate services to satisfy seniors’
needs. On the basis of the benefits proposed as the major
reasons for purchasing a packaged tour, we have categorized
our recommendations into three broad groups, as follows:
Uncertainty reduction. Given the high level of need to avoid
negative events and emotions among seniors, tour companies
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Journal of Travel Research XX(X)
may seek to reduce the travel uncertainties as much as possible, especially in terms of those constraint dimensions that
worry seniors most (physical and interpersonal, in particular). More specifically, tour companies are advised to design
escorted tours with a low level of physical activity and reasonable walking requirements, to facilitate the process of
purchasing travel insurance through joint contracts with
insurance companies, to provide reliable details about access
to medical services and medication during the trip, to offer
trip cancellation options (e.g., due to health problems) or
insurance (the possibility for refunding fees), to comment on
possible issues related to financial transactions or communication means, and to introduce measures to address or alleviate these difficulties and unexpected circumstances.
Relational benefits. With respect to the interpersonal constraint reduction benefits of packaged tours, tour operators
can facilitate and invite the company of seniors’ relatives
through special types of services, such as grandparent tours.
For those seniors who are unable to travel with loved ones,
tour operators can prepare the ground for attaining emotionally meaningful goals and enhancing the emotional state by
promoting the tranquil and relaxing atmosphere of the experience, creating small groups that provide seniors with the
possibility of establishing relationships with other group
members, allowing seniors to select which group they would
prefer to travel with, and keeping the composition of each
group as constant as possible so that the same individuals
travel together on several trips.
The salience of socioemotional motives may also increase
the weight of services’ relational benefits in seniors’ satisfaction. The related evidence is seen in Hsu’s (2000) findings,
which offered related evidence and suggested that having an
interesting tour guide is among the strongest determinants of
satisfaction with tour packages and tourists’ perceptions of
the whole experience, the company’s image, customer loyalty, and word-of-mouth communication. Thus, special
training for the tour guides of senior citizens, as well as others who serve them, is recommended as a beneficial strategy
to improve consumer satisfaction and retention.
As seen in comments from female travelers, sometimes
and under certain circumstances they might be interested in
traveling with other females. Consequently, this may create
an opportunity for tour companies to develop gender-specific
tours to meet such needs, a situation that would vary across
cultures and national boundaries. It is also reasonable to suggest that the trip process and the people with whom seniors
spend time during the trip might be more important than the
destination itself or its attractions. In this sense, “it is people,
not places” that seem to matter most in seniors’ destination
choice behavior.
Decision simplification. The present research suggests additional management and marketing ideas for tour companies
and those who cater to the senior market. Seniors are less
likely to gather information for each decision (as also
suggested by Darcy 2010). As a result, tour companies need
to assume almost all responsibility, reduce the effort
required for decision making, and routinize the travel process as much as possible. Furthermore, this study shows that
seniors are usually influenced by word of mouth, especially
among their age cohorts. This observation points to the
importance of sites such as YouTube and Tripadvisor, which
enjoy broad appeal and can serve as an appropriate means to
promote services to seniors. This could also represent an
opportunity for hospitality and tourism marketers to create
forums on their own websites. In this way, they can provide
tools that enable senior tourists to socialize, share their
travel experiences, and provide suggestions.
In light of the influence of user-generated content in shaping senior tourists’ decision-making processes, marketers
should develop effective social media campaigns aimed at
developing and controlling their brand reputation over the
Internet by stimulating their consumers to post comments,
videos, and photos and by systematically analyzing this usergenerated content. To increase the likelihood of posting,
tourism service providers should explicitly invite their customers to post comments, videos, or photos online at the end
of their experience by sending them an email after their stay
(Darcy 2010). They can also offer rewards such as special
discounts on future reservations. Grand Circle Travel’s campaign ads on YouTube.com are an example of this strategy.
Limitations and Avenues for Further
Research
Although this study adds to the growing literature on constraints in senior tourists’ decision-making processes and
offers several implications for practitioners, it is not free of
limitations. First, although generalizability was not the goal
of this research, the limited number of over-65 participants
limits the applicability of the findings for this age group.
The lower level of participation of this age group, however,
may represent its lack of sufficient computer skills or
unwillingness to use the Internet as a source of information;
thus, it may offer clues about seniors’ information acquisition methods. The baby boomers of tomorrow and the
senior market of today may suggest shifts in usage of the
Internet among the elderly, a situation not yet mapped. In
addition to the questions of sample representation and
Internet usage, this study extracted comments from only
one source. A study of narratives from different online and
offline sources would provide analogous maps with further
interpretations.
The anonymity of the participants leads to another limitation. While the narratives provide valuable insights into
consumer feelings and constraints related to travel experience, there is no information on these consumers’ identity
or sociodemographic characteristics. This may be restrictive if marketers are seeking to form user profiles of
seniors based on the types of constraints and fears
extracted from these conversations. This limitation,
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13
Kazeminia et al.
however, can serve as an avenue for future research that
provides insight into the question of who these consumers
are, where they are located, how many times they contribute to conversations, and their motivations for posting
comments on websites.
Demonstration of the Leximancer software for tracking
and interpreting seniors’ conversations can shed more light
on how similar conversations may be tracked and analyzed
to gain insight into how senior tourists view different
aspects of the travel experience. Leximancer provides a
realistic and useful tool for tour operators and tourism
advertising scholars to gauge seniors’ sentiment regarding
travel advertisements. This would be especially valuable
for tour operators and other service providers (such as
chain hotels and airlines) for whom brand reputation or
loyalty is of particular importance to measure the weight
and influence of seniors’ conversations around specific
brands. Overall, this study asserts and proposes the need
for multidisciplinary research on seniors’ attitude toward
risk.
Acknowledgment
The Foundation for Economic Education at Luleå University of
Technology (Economofunden) supported this study by providing
the first author with a research grant.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support
for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The
Foundation for Economic Education at Luleå University of
Technology (Economofunden) supported this study by providing
the first author with a research grant.
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Author Biographies
Azadeh Kazeminia is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Stockholm
University Business School in Sweden. Her research and scholarly
interests includes judgment and decisionmaking, risk taking behavior, pro-environmental behavior, consumerism and self-concept.
Giacomo Del Chiappa is a Tenured Assistant Professor in Marketing
at the Department of Economics and Business (DiSEA), University
of Sassari & CRENoS, Italy. His research topics include destination
governance, branding, consumer behaviour and e-tourism.
Jafar Jafari, University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA, is the Founding
Editor of Annals of Tourism Research and the Founding President
of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism.
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