Operationalizing Psychological Distance in Tourism Marketing

Abstract

International tourism has emerged as an important earner industry for a country's economy. It has a significant position in national economic development and needs a continuous evaluation. To do so, it is imperative to understand the dynamics of global tourists' behaviours, perceptions and the ways that tourists evaluate their destinations. The present research endeavours to consider the application of psychological distance in tourism marketing. Psychological distance has been applied in marketing research and refers to the gap or differences that an individual perceives between his/her home country and a foreign country. In tourism context, this gap can be regarded as a perceived gap between tourists' home country and the destination. The current review aims to investigate the application of psychological distance in tourism context. Furthermore, the presented measuring items for psychological distance are adopted from marketing-related studies; in addition to the further measuring items which were suggested through reviewing tourism-related literature.

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