The lonely traveller’s mind: exploring the influence of loneliness on revisit intention

Despite the fact that feelings of loneliness offer invaluable opportunities for marketing and management, studies on its impacts and consequences in the travel context are still in their infancy. Drawing on compensatory consumption behaviour theory, and using a mixed-methods approach, this research explored the influence of loneliness (i.e. trait loneliness and state loneliness) on tourists' revisit intention. In light of the findings derived from interviews and scenario-based experiments, the research validates the positive effects of each loneliness variable on revisit intention. Moreover, the mediating effects of nostalgia on the relationships between trait loneliness and revisit intention, and between state loneliness and revisit intention, have been revealed. This study enriches the literature on tourism and consumer behaviour and offers several tailor-made suggestions for relevant practitioners.