The notion of travel experience has been widely studied; however, little effort has been invested in understanding generational preferences for cruise experiences and cruisers’ happiness in relation to future time. This study thus examined generational effects on travel experiences and happiness derived from cruise travel based on a future time perspective (FTP). This lens offers a theoretical framework with which to appraise these relationships. Mixed methods and the difference measure were adopted to develop measurement scales and test hypotheses for Chinese senior cruisers. Quantitative results uncovered four dimensions containing 10 items tied to the ordinary–extraordinary cruise experience. Findings indicated that seniors with limited travel FTP were more likely to choose ordinary cruise experiences, whereas non-seniors with extensive travel FTP preferred extraordinary cruise experiences. Furthermore, senior cruisers were equally as happy as non-senior cruisers. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications were also discussed.
AbrahamsRD (1986) The Anthropology of Experience. Urbana, Ill.: Univ. of Illinois Press, 45–72.
2.
AlénELosadaNDe CarlosP (2017) Understanding tourist behaviour of senior citizens: lifecycle theory, continuity theory and a generational approach. Ageing and Society37(7): 1338–1361.
3.
AnatKRanK (2011) Productivity orientation and the consumption of collectable experiences. The Journal of Consumer Research37(6): 935–950.
4.
BhattacharjeeAMogilnerC (2014) Happiness from ordinary and extraordinary experiences. The Journal of Consumer Research41(1): 1–17.
5.
BollenKA (1989) Structural Equations with Latent Variables. New York, NY: Wiley.
6.
BollenKA (2014) Structural Equations with Latent Variables. 1st ed.Canada: Wiley.
7.
Bradburn (1969) The Structure of Psychological Well-being. Chicago: Aldine.
CarstensenLL (1992) Social and emotional patterns in adulthood. Psychology and Aging7(3): 331–338.
10.
CarstensenLL (1995) Evidence for a life-span theory of socioemotional selectivity. Current Directions in Psychological Science4(5): 151–156.
11.
CarstensenLLIsaacowitzDMCharlesST (1999) Taking time seriously: a theory of socioemotional selectivity. The American Psychologist54(3): 165–181.
12.
CarterTJGilovichT (2012) I am what I do, not what I have: the differential centrality of experiential and material purchases to the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology102(6): 1304–1317.
CateRAJohnOP (2007) Testing models of the structure and development of future time perspective. Psychology and Aging22(1): 186–201.
15.
CCYIA (2025) 2023–2024 中国邮轮发展报告 [China cruise development report 2023–2024]. http://www.ccyia.com/.
16.
CederholmEA (2004) The use of photo-elicitation in tourism research—framing the backpacker experience. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism4(3): 225–241.
17.
ChenSCShoemakerS (2014) Age and cohort effects: the American senior tourism market. Annals of Tourism Research48: 58–75.
18.
ChenY (2011) The effect of vacation on travelers’ subjective well-being.Doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
19.
ChungJYChenC-CLinY-H (2016) Cross-Strait tourism and generational cohorts. Journal of Travel Research55(6): 813–826.
20.
ChurchillGA (1979) A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research16(1): 64–73.
CollierJJr (1957) Photography in anthropology: a report on two experiments. American Anthropologist59(5): 843–859.
25.
ConnollyJ (2019) Generational conflict and the sociology of generations: Mannheim and Elias reconsidered. Theory, Culture & Society36(7–8): 153–172.
26.
CooperDHolmesKPforrC, et al. (2019) Implications of generational change: European river cruises and the emerging Gen X market. Journal of Vacation Marketing25(4): 418–431.
27.
DeVoeSEHouseJ (2012) Time, money, and happiness: how does putting a price on time affect our ability to smell the roses?Journal of Experimental Social Psychology48(2): 466–474.
28.
DienerE (2006) Guidelines for national indicators of subjective well-being and ill-being. Journal of Happiness Studies7(4): 397–404.
29.
DienerED (2000) Subjective well-being. The American Psychologist55(1): 34–43.
30.
DuerdenMDLundbergNRWardP, et al. (2018) From ordinary to extraordinary: a framework of experience types. Journal of Leisure Research49(3–5): 196–216.
31.
DunnEWGilbertDTWilsonTD (2011) If money doesn’t make you happy, then you probably aren’t spending it right. Journal of Consumer Psychology21(2): 115–125.
32.
FleischerAPizamA (2002) Tourism constraints among Israeli seniors. Annals of Tourism Research29(1): 106–123.
33.
FolkestadH (2000) Getting the picture: photo-assisted conversations as interviews. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research: SJDR2(2): 3–21.
34.
GielnikMMZacherHWangM (2018) Age in the entrepreneurial process: the role of future time perspective and prior entrepreneurial experience. Journal of Applied Psychology103(10): 1067–1085.
35.
GilbertDAbdullahJ (2004) Holiday taking and the sense of well-being. Annals of Tourism Research31(1): 103–121.
36.
HairJFBlackWCBabinBJ, et al. (2006) Multivariate Data Analysis. 6th ed.New Jersey: Edition Pearson Prentice Hall.
37.
HornemanLCarterRWWeiS, et al. (2002) Profiling the senior traveler: an Australian perspective. Journal of Travel Research41(1): 23–37.
38.
HsuCHCaiLAWongKK (2007) A model of senior tourism motivations—anecdotes from Beijing and Shanghai. Tourism Management28(5): 1262–1273.
HungK (2018) Understanding the cruising experience of Chinese travelers through photo-interviewing technique and hierarchical experience model. Tourism Management (1982)69: 88–96.
41.
HungKLuJ (2016) Active living in later life: an overview of aging studies in hospitality and tourism journals. International Journal of Hospitality Management53: 133–144.
42.
HungKPetrickJF (2010) Developing a measurement scale for constraints to cruising. Annals of Tourism Research37(1): 206–228.
43.
HungKPetrickJF (2012) Comparing constraints to cruising between cruisers and non-cruisers: a test of the constraint-effects-mitigation model. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing29(3): 242–262.
44.
HungKWangL (2021) Testing an alternative view of cruise tourist experience: the hierarchical experience model. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing38(6): 640–652.
45.
Iso-AholaSE (1980) The social psychology of leisure and recreation.
46.
JangSBaiBHuC, et al. (2009) Affect, travel motivation, and travel intention: a senior market. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (Washington, D.C.), 33(1): 51–73.
47.
JangSSHamS (2009) A double-hurdle analysis of travel expenditure: baby boomer seniors versus older seniors. Tourism Management30(3): 372–380.
48.
JordiQElizabethWDPetridesKV, et al. (2010) Money giveth, money taketh away: the dual effect of wealth on happiness. Psychological Science21(6): 759–763.
49.
KangS (2018) Examining the influence of future time perspective on older adult’s travel behavior. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
50.
KesebirPDienerE (2008) In pursuit of happiness: empirical answers to philosophical questions. Perspectives on Psychological Science3(2): 117–125.
51.
KimGJinBE (2019) Older female consumers’ environmentally sustainable apparel consumption. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management23(4): 487–503.
52.
KimHWooEUysalM (2015) Tourism experience and quality of life among elderly tourists. Tourism Management (1982)46: 465–476.
53.
KochoianNRaemdonckIFrenayM, et al. (2017) The role of age and occupational future time perspective in workers’ motivation to learn. Vocations and Learning10(1): 27–45.
54.
KooijDTAMKanferRBettsM, et al. (2018) Future time perspective: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology103(8): 867–893.
55.
Lambert-PandraudRLaurentG (2010) Why do older consumers buy older brands? The role of attachment and declining innovativeness. Journal of Marketing74(5): 104–121.
56.
LangFRCarstensenLL (2002) Time counts: future time perspective, goals, and social relationships. Psychology and Aging17(1): 125–139.
57.
LawtonMP (1985). Activities and leisure. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics5(1), 127–164.
58.
LewinK (1939) Field theory and experiment in social psychology: concepts and methods. American Journal of Sociology44(6): 868–896.
59.
LewisCNelsonKBlackR (2021) Moving millennials out of the too hard basket: exploring the challenges of attracting millennial tourists to rural destinations. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management46: 96–103.
60.
LyuJMaoZHuL (2018) Cruise experience and its contribution to subjective well-being: a case of Chinese tourists. The International Journal of Tourism Research20(2): 225–235.
61.
LyubomirskySLepperHS (1999) A measure of subjective happiness: preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research46(2): 137–155.
62.
MannheimK (1952) Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 134–190.
63.
MannheimK (1970) The problem of generations. Psychoanalytic Review57(3): 378–404.
64.
MehmetogluMEngenM (2011) Pine and Gilmore’s concept of experience economy and its dimensions: an empirical examination in tourism. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism12(4): 237–255.
65.
MilmanA (1998) The impact of tourism and travel experience on senior travelers’ psychological well-being. Journal of Travel Research37(2): 166–170.
66.
MintonEALiuRL (2019) It’s only once, so let’s indulge: testing ordinary vs. extraordinary experience within marketing messaging, temporal distance, and consumer indulgence. The Journal of Consumer Affairs53(3): 1084–1116.
MobilyKELemkeJHGisinGJ (1991) The idea of leisure repertoire. Journal of Applied Gerontology10(2): 208–223.
69.
MogilnerCAakerJKamvarSD (2012) How happiness affects choice. Journal of Consumer Research39(2): 429–443.
70.
MogilnerCKamvarSDAakerJ (2011) The shifting meaning of happiness. Social Psychological and Personality Science2(4): 395–402.
71.
MossbergLSundqvistAA (2003) Att skapa upplevelser: från OK till WOW! : Studentlitteratur.
72.
PhamHSTKhanhCNT (2021) Ecotourism intention: the roles of environmental concern, time perspective and destination image. Tourism Review76(5): 1141–1153.
73.
RyanC (1995) Learning about tourists from conversations: the over-55S in Majorca. Tourism Management (1982)16(3): 207–215.
74.
SchmittBH (1999) Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act and Relate to Your Company and Brands. New York: The Free Press.
75.
ShoemakerS (1989) Segmentation of the senior pleasure travel market. Journal of Travel Research27(3): 14–21.
76.
SirgyMJSuC (2000) Destination image, self-congruity, and travel behavior: toward an integrative model. Journal of Travel Research38(4): 340–352.
77.
StahlSTPatrickJH (2012) Adults’ future time perspective predicts engagement in physical activity. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences67(4): 413–416.
78.
SussmanABAlterAL (2012) The exception is the rule: underestimating and overspending on exceptional expenses. Journal of Consumer Research39(4): 800–814.
79.
SussmanABSharmaEAlterAL (2015) Framing charitable donations as exceptional expenses increases giving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied21(2): 130.
80.
SwainR (2008) Seniors and cruising: Motivations and satisfactions. Master’s thesis, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario.
81.
TanY-F (2011) 老年人日常活动对成功老龄化的影响 [Effect of daily activities on successful aging in older adults]. Doctoral dissertation, East China Normal University, Shanghai.
82.
WangF (2015) 我国城市老年人消费行为的实证研究 [An empirical study on the consumption behavior of the urban elderly in China]. Population and Development21(3): 101–112.
83.
WangQLHungKLiuC (2023) Tourist experience and well-being of Chinese elderly tourists through intergenerational interaction with their adult children. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management57: 18–28.
84.
WasslerP (2015) Residents and destination brands: understanding residents’ destination brand ambassador behavior and its antecedents. Ph.D. dissertation, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
85.
WildschutTSedikidesCArndtJ, et al. (2006) Nostalgia: content, triggers, functions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology91(5): 975–993.
86.
YeungDYFungHHKamC (2012) Age differences in problem solving strategies: the mediating role of future time perspective. Personality and Individual Differences53(1): 38–43.
87.
Yu T (2013) 中国人口老龄化与老年消费问题研究 [China’s aging population and the problems of old age consumption]. Jilin University.
88.
ZabriskieRBMcCormickBP (2001) The influences of family leisure patterns on perceptions of family functioning. Family Relations50(3): 281–289.
89.
ZaubermanGRatnerRKKimBK (2009) Memories as assets: strategic memory protection in choice over time. The Journal of Consumer Research35(5): 715–728.
90.
ZimmerZBrayleyRESearleMS (1995) Whether to go and where to go: identification of important influences on seniors’ decisions to travel. Journal of Travel Research33(3): 3–10.
