ABSTRACT
Many textbooks on consumer behavior start with the presentation of a general framework of the consumer's decision-making process, and only after this are its different components discussed. In this chapter, we will go the other way around. First, we describe the major aspects of tourists'
decision-making and behavior processes before looking at how those components relate to each other. The reason is that, instead of developing only one general model, we consider several approaches to decision making. This is introduced by a discussion of the major competing paradigms in the social sciences. On one hand, we present three traditional models that consider the tourist as being rational and a cognitive information processor. On the other hand, alternative frameworks are proposed that include sets of propositions which question classical assumptions. A new typology of tourists, based on their decision-making style, closes the chapter.
