Predicting International Air Travelers’ Intention to Engage in Airport Shopping Behavior: Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

Despite its importance, relatively little is known about international tourists’ decision-making process for theirshopping at an airport abroad. Filling such research gap, the present study attempted to examine overseas tourists’intention formation for airport shopping when traveling abroad by employing and expanding the theory of plannedbehavior. Particularly, we aimed 1) to assess the intricate associations among attitude toward the behavior, subjectivenorm, perceived behavioral control, desire for airport shopping, and frequency of past behavior in generatingintention for airport shopping by modifying the TPB model, 2) to test the relative importance among study constructsin determining airport-shopping intention, and 3) to identify the superiority of the proposed theoretical framework inpredicting intention compared to the original TPB. Desire for airport shopping, image of it, and frequency of pastbehavior were newly incorporated into the original theory of planned behavior. Data collected from the internationaltravelers using a particular airport in South Korea was utilized for analysis. Findings from the assessment of themeasurement model verified the adequate level of composite reliability and construct validity. Results from thestructural model revealed that the proposed extended theoretical framework was superior to the originalsocio-psychological theory in terms of prediction power; and integrated variables had a significant role in intentionformation. In addition, the vital impact of desire (relative importance) as a direct driver of intention was found. Further, desire was identified to be a significant mediator in the relationship between attitude and intention forairport shopping. Findings of this study will help airport operators and marketers improve/invent tactics to increasinginternational tourists’ airport shopping behaviors and to spend more.