A Theory of Unplanned Travel Decisions: Implications for Modeling On-the-Go Travelers

This article proposes a conceptual framework that attempts to explain unplanned travel decision making. Research on traveler decision making suggests that the nature of one's trip may change substantially depending upon new information, constraints, and a disparity between anticipations and actual situations. Drawing upon attitude theory, prospect theory, and dynamic decision theory, a conceptual framework of travelers' unplanned travel is proposed. It is argued that this framework provides a useful foundation guiding further development of destination marketing strategies as well as mobile systems that might be used to support on-the-go travel decisions.