The Relationships of Perceived Risk to Personal Factors, Knowledge of Destination, and Travel ...

248 Pages·2005·2.44 MB·English

by  Jiho Han

The Relationships of Perceived Risk to Personal Factors, Knowledge of Destination,
and Travel Purchase Decisions in International Leisure Travel

by

Jiho Y. Han

Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

in

Hospitality and Tourism Management

Committee Chair: Dr. Pamela A. Weaver

Committee Members:
Dr. Candice E. Clemenz
Dr. James Littlefield
Dr. Ken W. McCleary
Dr. Suzanne K. Murrmann

April 22, 2005
Blacksburg, Virginia

Keywords: Perceived Risk, Psychographics, Language Ability, Past Experience,
Familiarity/Expertise, Travel Purchase Decisions, International Leisure Travel

Copyright 2005, Jiho Y. Han
The Relationships of Perceived Risk to Personal Factors, Knowledge of Destination, and
Travel Purchase Decisions in International Leisure Travel

Jiho Y. Han

(ABSTRACT)

In the last five years, the world has experienced unexpected tragic events and natural
disasters. However, international tourism is expected to grow continually and tourists are
therefore becoming more concerned with safety and security during their international travel.
This dissertation investigated individuals’ risk perception of vacationing at two
scenario international destinations, Australia and Japan. While ten dimensions of perceived
risk in international leisure travel were identified in the literature and one additional
dimension of “Communication Risk” was proposed for this study, only seven dimensions
were found in this study: “Health Risk,” “Value Risk,” “Psychological Risk,” “Social Risk,”
“Terrorism Risk,” “Equipment Risk,” and “Communication Risk.” The other four dimensions
– “Financial Risk,” “Time Risk,” “Satisfaction Risk,” and “Political Instability Risk” – were
either merged into other dimensions or did not appear as an independent dimension in this
study. The “Communication Risk” which was proposed in this study was found to be a valid
dimension of perceived risk in vacationing at international destinations.
The relationships of perceived risk to other factors were also examined. Individuals’
characteristics of novelty seeking were negatively related to their risk perception, as were
individuals’ proficiency of the destination’s native language. Those who have experience
visiting the destination tended to perceive less risk in vacationing at the destination; the more
familiarity/expertise with the destination, the less risk was perceived. When an individual
perceived a higher level of risk towards a destination, s/he was less likely to vacation at the
destination. Individuals were more likely to choose a packaged tour than independent travel
when they had a higher level of risk perception towards vacationing at a particular
international destination.

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DEDICATION

To My Mother, Mi-Young Yun and My Father, In-Soo Han

“The body travels more easily than the mind, and until
we have limbered up our imagination, we continue to
think as though we had stayed at home. We have not
really budged a step until we take up residence in
someone else’s point of view.”
John Erskine (1879-1971:192) ‘The Complete Life’
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It has been eight years since I first started my graduate education at Rikkyo University
in Tokyo, Japan. Although I decided to continue higher education to become able to help
others, I only have been helped by so many people in so many ways during the last eight years.
The acknowledgements go to….
Dr. Pamela A. Weaver, my committee chair and my academic mother. Without her
constant care and perfect guidance for my academic and personal life, I could not have
completed this long journey. It is a joy of lifetime to have her as the role model of an
outstanding researcher, teacher, and woman. My utmost respect, gratitude, and love will
always be hers.
My fantastic committee members: Dr. Ken W. McCleary, without his encouragement,
I could not have survived my first semester at VT. Since the first class with him, he has been
and will always be my hero; Dr. Suzanne K. Murrmann provided the initial idea of developing
the model of this dissertation and supplied valuable knowledge to elaborate the research
design; Dr. James Littlefield offered his intellectual support during the research process and
also taught me what true global mind is; and Dr. Candice E. Clemenz kindly presented a
valuable learning opportunity of joint publication and her thoughtful encouragement
throughout this dissertation process should be greatly appreciated. Working with my
harmonious and well-balanced committee members has been always stimulating and
enjoyable.
Dr. Lisa Leslie who had read every single draft page of this dissertation, for not only
teaching me how to write academically but also contributing many helpful ideas to improve
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this study. It was a blessing to earn a special friend through a painful process of working on
this dissertation.
Dr. Muzaffer Uysal, Dr. Cheri Becker, Dr. David Chang, and Mr. Jin Huh helpfully
cooperated for data collection in the stages of scale purification. Three friends of mine kindly
helped me preparing and sending out my survey: Hyunjeong Lee, Philipe Wong, and
Jeongshin Y. Weon. Dr. Sukbin Cha and Dr. Seehyung Kim contributed valuable ideas to
designing the survey and data analysis. I would like to thank every single person who filled
out my survey. They encouraged me and helped me in the most practical way. I am greatly
indebted to them. Dr. Hyungil Jung, for his moral support and kind help for the last five years.
My mentors in Japan: Professor Kazuo Murakami, my Master’s thesis advisor, for his
excellent guidance and kind help for my career; Dr. Shigeru Shirasaka, for his valuable advice
and warm encouragement; and Dr, Sang-Chul Chun, who opened the very first door to
Virginia Tech for me, for his thoughtful advice.
Dr. Kaye Chon, to him I owe my greatest thanks for recognizing my potential and
guiding me to realize my wishes.
My dear friends in Blacksburg, Heejin J. Chun and her family, Dr. Sunghyun Weon’s
family, Soyoun, Dr. Youngok Ahn, and sisters and brothers at Korean Baptist Church at
Blacksburg, for precious memories that we shared together and will have in the future.
Catherine Snyder, her faithful prayers supported me most powerfully since the day I
met her and her warmest heart comforted me when I was going through the hardest time.
My beloved friends in Korea, Jeehye, Anna, Junghyun, Jaehyun, Yousook, Hye-Sun,
Young-Jin, Hyewon, Dr. Hyungsook You, Eunmi, Hyunjun, and Byunghwa, for their
unchangeable faith in me that supported me to finish this arduous task.
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My good friends in Japan, Reverend Miyama’s family, Yukio and Mirei Miyazaki,
Hosokawa family, the family of Humi Katsube, and the family of Misako Sekiguchi, for
showing me unconditional friendship for the last five years from the other side of the globe.
My brother, Sung-Joo and My sister-in-law, Jean, for their everlasting love and
unfailing faith in me. My father, In-Soo Han, his honest and diligent life has been and will
always be my pride.
My late brother Sung-Ho, the loveliest person in my life, always makes me want to be
a better person. Although I have to wait many years to see him again face to face, I’ll do my
best to be a person of whom he can be proud in heaven.
My mother, Mi-Young Youn, who is beautiful in every way, never failed to have trust
in me at any single moment since I was born. She has been the biggest challenge to me while
being the best supporter at the same time. I’ve always wanted to become like her and have her
wisdom, humor, and brilliance but now I’m only happy to be her daughter.
Finally, I’m most grateful to God for my life and faith.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………….iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………….v
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………..viii
LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………...…...xii
LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………....xv
CHAPTER I.............................................................................................................................. 1
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem....................................................................................................... 3
Research Questions ................................................................................................................ 4
Theoretical Framework for the Study .................................................................................... 6
Proposed Model ..................................................................................................................... 7
Boundaries ............................................................................................................................. 8
Organization of the Study .................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER II .......................................................................................................................... 11
REVIEW OF LITERATURE ............................................................................................... 11
Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 11
Perceived Risk...................................................................................................................... 11
Dimensions of Perceived Risk ......................................................................................... 20
Communication Risk............................................................................................................ 26
Personal Factors ................................................................................................................... 27
Psychographics................................................................................................................. 27
Language Ability.............................................................................................................. 32
Knowledge of Destination ................................................................................................... 34
Familiarity/Expertise........................................................................................................ 35
Past Experience ................................................................................................................ 36
Travel Purchase Decisions ................................................................................................... 37
Travel Likelihood............................................................................................................. 43
Travel Style ...................................................................................................................... 45
Summary .............................................................................................................................. 47
CHAPTER III ........................................................................................................................ 49
METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................. 49
Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 49
Research Questions, Proposition and Research Hypotheses................................................ 49
Research Question 1......................................................................................................... 49
Research Question 2......................................................................................................... 50
Research Question 3......................................................................................................... 51
Research Question 4......................................................................................................... 51
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Research Design................................................................................................................... 52
Scale Purification – Phase I ................................................................................................. 53
Survey Instrument ............................................................................................................ 53
Data Collection ................................................................................................................ 53
Scale – Perceived Risk ..................................................................................................... 54
Scale – Language Ability ................................................................................................. 61
Scale – Familiarity/Expertise ........................................................................................... 62
Scale Purification – Phase II ................................................................................................ 63
Survey Method................................................................................................................. 63
Survey Instrument ............................................................................................................ 65
Final Survey ......................................................................................................................... 66
Data Collection ................................................................................................................ 66
Population ........................................................................................................................ 66
Sampling Frame ............................................................................................................... 66
Sample Size...................................................................................................................... 67
Questionnaire Design....................................................................................................... 68
Measurement Scale – Personal Factors............................................................................ 68
Measurement Scale – Knowledge of a Destination ......................................................... 70
Measurement Scale – Language Ability .......................................................................... 71
Measurement Scale – Travel Purchase Decisions............................................................ 72
Demographic Information................................................................................................ 74
Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................................... 74
Hypotheses Testing .......................................................................................................... 77
Research Question 1......................................................................................................... 77
Research Question 2......................................................................................................... 78
Research Question 3......................................................................................................... 78
Research Question 4......................................................................................................... 79
Summary .............................................................................................................................. 80
CHAPTER IV......................................................................................................................... 81
RESULTS ............................................................................................................................... 81
Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 81
Phase I .................................................................................................................................. 82
Survey Method................................................................................................................. 82
Factor Analysis of Items Measuring Perceived Risk ....................................................... 82
Factor Analysis Results – Australia ................................................................................. 83
Factor Analysis Results – Japan....................................................................................... 92
Results – Perceived Risk in Phase I ................................................................................. 99
Reliability Test Results – Familiarity/Expertise ............................................................ 102
Phase II............................................................................................................................... 103
Survey Method............................................................................................................... 103
Factor Analysis Results – Phase II................................................................................. 105
Internal Consistency Assessment – Phase II.................................................................. 111
Final Survey ....................................................................................................................... 111
Survey Method............................................................................................................... 111
Sample............................................................................................................................ 114
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Non-Response Bias ........................................................................................................ 115
Profile of the Respondents ............................................................................................. 115
Data Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 118
Descriptive Information of Variables............................................................................. 119
Perceived Risk............................................................................................................ 119
Novelty Seeking .......................................................................................................... 125
Language Ability ........................................................................................................ 128
Familiarity/Expertise ................................................................................................. 129
Past Experience.......................................................................................................... 131
Travel Likelihood ....................................................................................................... 132
Travel Style ................................................................................................................ 133
Factor Analysis Results – Perceived Risk...................................................................... 134
Australia..................................................................................................................... 134
Japan.......................................................................................................................... 142
Testing of Hypothesis 1 ................................................................................................. 150
Factor Analysis Results – Novelty Seeking................................................................... 151
Testing of Hypothesis 2 ................................................................................................. 158
Testing of Hypothesis 3 ................................................................................................. 159
Testing of Hypothesis 4 ................................................................................................. 162
Testing of Hypothesis 5 ................................................................................................. 163
Testing of Hypothesis 6 ................................................................................................. 166
Testing of Hypothesis 7 ................................................................................................. 168
Summary ............................................................................................................................ 176
CHAPTER V ........................................................................................................................ 178
DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................... 178
Introduction........................................................................................................................ 178
Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 178
Scale Purification ........................................................................................................... 178
Modification of Hypothesis 1 ........................................................................................ 179
Final Survey Discussion................................................................................................. 180
Hypotheses Tests............................................................................................................ 182
Research Hypothesis 1 ................................................................................................... 184
Research Hypothesis 2 ................................................................................................... 187
Research Hypothesis 3 ................................................................................................... 188
Research Hypothesis 4 ................................................................................................... 190
Research Hypothesis 5 ................................................................................................... 191
Research Hypothesis 6 ................................................................................................... 192
Research Hypothesis 7 ................................................................................................... 193
Implications........................................................................................................................ 195
Managerial Implications ................................................................................................ 195
Theoretical Implications ................................................................................................ 196
Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 198
Recommendations for Future Studies ................................................................................ 199
Conclusions........................................................................................................................ 201
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................... 202
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