Tran Effects of American Travelers' Motivations on Their Travel Preferences for Tour Packages - Basics, Concepts, Methods, Applications

This study examined the relationships between American travelers' un­conscious needs for achievement, affiliation, and power and their preferences for adventure, culture, business, and escape tours. Seven Thematic Apper­ception Test (TAT) pictures prompted respondents to create 980 related stories and the unconscious needs for achievement, affiliation, and power were scored. The null hypotheses were that American travelers' unconscious needs do not relate with their travel preferences for tour packages. Two strong relationships were detected: one between the need for achievement and the preference for an adventure tour; and the other between the need for affiliation and the preference for a culture tour. This study concurred with the validity of McClelland's (1985) theory of motivation and discovered the relationships between American travelers' unconscious motives and their preferences for tour packages. Implications of management and marketing in tourism were discussed.