Mindset Matters to Well-being Boosting with Tourism

Abstract

While tourism experiences are often recommended over material possessions for their superior potential to boost consumers’ well-being, the context-based nature of such tourism superiority remains under-investigated. This study accordingly examines the extent to which mindset (growth vs. fixed) defines the boundary conditions of this recommendation. Two experiments, designed with different mindset operationalizations, well-being measures, and data collection platforms, reveal that only individuals adopting a growth mindset, either chronically or temporarily primed, gain greater eudaimonia and, in turn, enjoy greater hedonia from tourism experiences than from material possessions. The findings extend the literature on experiential superiority, mindset theory, and well-being benefits of tourism while informing the mindset-based designs of tourism experiences and marketing materials to improve tourists’ well-being outcomes.