Conceptualizing trade show visitors' consumption behavior

Tourism trade shows have become an increasingly attractive channel for practitioners to meet potential buyers. However, few studies have conceptualized non-industrial buyers’ consumption behavior during these events. This study proposes a model to conceptualize trade show visitors’ buying behavior. The analysis of 738 trade show visitors shows that variety-seeking tendency and deal proneness directly influence visitors’ tourism product consumption behavior. In addition, price sensitivity can affect deal proneness and variety-seeking tendency. Nevertheless, contrary to existing literature, service quality will not moderate visitors’ buying processes. The implications of this study are discussed within tourism management literature.