| College students are a significant tourism industry market segment, and group vacation trips are a common phenomenon among college students. Since college students' group behavior occurs in a social context involving mainly friends, understanding of group vacation trips is an important element in the study of tourism markets. However, few researchers have investigated the motivators involved in such group vacation trip behavior. Two important questions were addressed in this study: (1) what are the characteristics of the college student travel market? and (2) what factors motivate college students to commit to participating in group vacation trips? Via a sample of U.S. college students enrolled at nine universities collected online and in-class, a group vacation market profile of college students and the effects of individual and social factors on their group vacation trip behavior were developed and investigated in this study.; A theoretical model was adopted from the consumer and marketing literature which integrated three social behavior theories: goal directed behavior (an extended model from the theory of planned behavior), social identity theory, and a conceptual framework based on the concept of we-intention.; Results of the descriptive analysis confirmed that group vacation trips are common phenomena among college students and showed the important role of friends as information sources and as trip companions. The theoretical model of group vacations was tested and confirmed via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Confirmatory factor analysis in SEM validated the measurement model and, revealed that social identity is a second-order three-factor construct comprising cognitive, affective, and evaluative components. All hypothesized relationships in the SEM model were positive and statistically significant, except the link between subjective norms and desire to take a vacation trip with a group of friends. Study results provide empirical support for the mediating role of desire to take a vacation trip with a group of friends, and the effects of social (i.e., social identity and subjective norms) and individual factors (i.e., perceived behavioral control and attitude) on shared intention (i.e., we-intention) to take a vacation trip. Social identity had the most significant effect on we-intention to take a vacation trip with a group of friends. This study further explored the moderating role of group size on relationships between social identity and outcome variables, indicating that small groups have more social identity effect on group vacation trips.; When developing marketing programs targeting college students, tourism marketers should emphasize group travelers' needs and wants. When they develop tourism-related products or services targeting college students, they need to consider marketing strategies enhancing social identity, to motivate shared intention to take a vacation trip with a group of friends. Marketers should build group-friendly environments and/or group-based activities to meet group needs and enhance group cohesion.; Suggested directions for future study include: (1) measuring the role of subjective norm, (2) evaluating the generalizability of sample and external validity, (3) developing more social factors, (4) comparing between an on-going and an initial group, and (5) investigating other moderator variables. |
