Evolutionary Perspective on Tourists’ Conformity to the Minority
The Effect of Mating Motive
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7159646 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mengfei Wang (0000-0001-6048-8245, Huaqiao University), Shangzhi Qiu (0000-0002-5673-4914, Xiamen University, corresponding author), Yizhi Fang (Xiamen University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 1361-1372 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1096-3480 • E-ISSN: 1557-7554 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/10963480241288126 |
| OpenAlex | W4402760485 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 58 |
Tourists tend to conform to the majority when faced with uncertainty in decision-making, which poses a considerable challenge to the promotion of new, less popular tourism offerings. This study delves into the heuristic promotion of less popular tourism offerings by using the concept of mating motives from the field of evolutionary psychology. Findings show that tourists driven by mating motives are likely to follow the minority, rather than the majority, when making purchase decisions—particularly in the context of souvenir shopping, destination selection, and gift giving—with uniqueness seeking playing a mediating role. Although purchase risk can increase the tendency of tourists to conform to the majority, it does not mitigate the effect of mating motives. The findings contribute to the promotion of less popular tourism offerings by highlighting tourists’ uniqueness seeking. This study broadens knowledge on tourist conformity behavior from the theoretical perspective of evolutionary psychology
Biology · Business · Conformity · Economics · Mating · Positive economics · Computer Science · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology · Ecology · Marketing
Sexual Selection
Uniqueness
Tourism Risk and Uncertainty
Fundamental motives
Renovating the Pyramid of Needs
Investigating the Role of Prior Knowledge in Tourist Decision Making
Social Influence
Romantic motives and risk-taking
Tourism experiences vs. material purchases
The influence of face on Chinese tourists’ gift purchase behaviour
Understanding the Covid-19 tourist psyche
Physical attractiveness of service employees and customer engagement in tourism industry
Social influence and bandwagon effects in tourism travel
International leisure tourists’ involvement profile
On the origin of tourist behavior
How to define and measure risk perceptions
Peacocks, Picasso, and parental investment
Going along versus going alone
Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption
The Mate Screening Motive
Hiding in the Crowd
Assimilating and Differentiating
To Be or Not to Be Unique? The Effect of Social Exclusion on Consumer Choice
Identifiable but Not Identical
The Lonely Consumer
I'll Have What She's Having
The Moderating Effect of Perceived Risk on Consumers' Evaluations of Product Incongruity
Consumers' Need for Uniqueness
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |