The Organization of Information in Memory for Pictures of Tourist Destinations: Are There Age-Related Differences?

Abstract

Older adults are a key leisure travel market segment. As a growth market for the travel industry, it is imperative to understand how older travelers respond to pictures and illustrations in destination advertising used to prompt the destination selection decision. This study investigated age-related differences in memory for pictures of tourist destinations. After receiving encoding instructions, 90 younger and 90 older adults viewed four pictures of tourist destinations and later recalled the content of the pictures. With destination familiarity and education variables statistically controlled, there were no age differences found in pictorial memory performance. Implications of, and possible explanations for, the results are discussed.