Progress on novelty in tourism: An integration of personality, attitudinal and emotional theoretical foundations

Abstract

Novelty is often depicted as the essence of travelling and is gaining attention in the tourism literature. However, the understanding of novelty is diverse, with multiple theoretical perspectives and a lack of consensus regarding its definition and conceptualisation. This study integrates different theoretical perspectives and presents an extended analysis of the progress of novelty in tourism, both chronologically and thematically. The findings indicate three thematic clusters categorised based on the core of novelty, its antecedents, and consequences, evolving through different time periods. The results show that the core is mostly based on emotional appraisal attributes, is influenced by novelty-seeking personality traits, and can drive consequences including tourist satisfaction, loyalty, and value. Future research can explore an integrated theoretical perspective based on defining novelty in tourism as an attitudinal belief with varying degrees of valence, extremity, and arousal in the evaluative space, which connects novelty to other relevant antecedents and consequences.