Traveling with pets and staying at a pet-friendly hotel: A combination effect of the BRT, TPB, and NAM on consumer behaviors

Tourists are recently increasingly traveling with their pets. However, how and why pet owners choose pet-friendly related tourism as well as hospitality products and services remains unknown. The present study aims to examine the decision-making process of pet owners in regards to visiting pet-friendly hotels by simultaneously employing the behavioral reasoning theory (BRT), the norm activation theory (NAT), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and the mindfulness theory as theoretical foundations. The study results revealed that motivation for or against a certain behavior significantly predicts behavioral intention via the psychological mechanism of the self-interested process and the norm activation process. Moreover, the direct influential effects of external influences from the environment on behavioral intention and the moderating role of sense of mindfulness as a personal trait between the behavioral intention and its antecedents were also identified.