ABSTRACT
Emotions have a significant influence on the tourism consumer’s behaviour before, during and after their tourism experience. Emotion is therefore a highly relevant psychological construct to the study of tourist behaviour. How a tourist responds emotionally to marketing attempts as well as their actual tourism experience is of significant importance to tourism marketers and those responsible for the development and management of tourism products. From a research perspective, the measurement of tourist emotions provides important insight into a tourism consumer’s affective response to the tourism offering. Continuing technological advancements in the methodological tools available to tourism researchers are increasing the reliability and validity of emotional data and extending its application to a wide range of tourism contexts. This chapter commences with a discussion that emphasises the important role that emotion plays in the tourist’s experience from their initial decision-making process to their reactions to and satisfaction with their final choice. The chapter will then focus on the measurement of emotion, presenting a review of the current trends and advances in the methodological techniques employed by tourism researchers to better understand the role and influence of emotion on tourist behaviour.
