Tweens on Holidays: In-Situ Decision-making from Children's Perspective

Often the travel group is the nuclear family. However, in most decision-making research the respondents are the adults; rarely the children. Furthermore, most research on vacation decision-making focuses on decision-making processes that take place prior to the vacation. Many decisions are made in situ though (i.e. after having arrived at the destination). In order to contribute to the filling of these research gaps (i.e. that children are rarely given voice and that in-situ decision-making processes are under-investigated), this paper draws on in-depth interviews with 89 tweens (age 8–12 years). The purpose is to uncover tweens' enactment of in-situ decision-making and thus, the paper accounts for such decision-making processes from a tween perspective. Accordingly, the title of this paper emphasizes the dual ambition of the study: To give voice to tweens and to uncover decision-making during (or on) holidays. A central finding is that tweens' role in the making of vacation choices is under-emphasized by extant theory. The second finding is that tweens do not align with traditional roles as passively submitting to whatever choices their parents make; nor do they resemble the stereotypic image of self-centered and pestering individuals in search of their own identity (or identities).