Soon or Later? The Effect of Temporal Distance on Travel Decisions

The objective of this paper is to examine how temporal distance changes the focus on the structure (level of construal) for different types of travel decisions: hedonic and utilitarian. Specifically, the study examined whether a decision-maker will have a consistent preference for a travel decision (hedonic or utilitarian) when temporal distance (near or distant future) differs. The Construal Level Theory (CLT) has been adopted to understand this phenomenon. The results showed that temporal distance shift (from near to distant future) was a significant evaluation input criteria for hedonic travel decisions. It altered decisions where high-level construals became more salient among vacation options. On the other hand, temporal distance did not create such a change in preference for utilitarian travel decisions. As the study was the first adaptation of CLT to the context of travel decision-making, study findings may entail theoretical contributions to CLT literature and tourism decision-making research.