Beyond accessibility: empowering mobility-impaired customers with motivation differentiation

Purpose To sufficiently fulfill the travel potential of people with mobility impairments (PwMIs), this study aims to propose a valuable supplement to facility/service accommodation by hospitality/tourism businesses by identifying and purposefully cultivating the superior motivation types for empowering PwMI’s travel pursuits despite challenges. To this end, the study proposes a self-determined versus controlled motivation subdivision to the predominant travel motivation typologies, with its practical value, theoretical value and application feasibility verified. Design/methodology/approach To ensure the verification reliability across challenge travels, the study adopts an extreme groups design for data collection. Qualtrics surveys situated in two resort-package scenarios contrast in facility/service accommodation levels are paired with two US PwMI groups contrast in travel capabilities. An unconventional mix of analytical information and seemingly unrelated regressions are adopted for data analyses. Findings Self-determined motivations are found as the superior facilitators of PwMI’s challenging resort-travel pursuits, confirming the practical value of the proposed motivation subdivision. The theoretical value is verified given the subdivision’s significant explanatory power for resort-travel attitude and behavioral intentions, after controlling for travel purpose fulfillment. It is also feasible to achieve the targeted cultivation of self-determined motivations by supporting the basic physiological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Practical implications The study’s context-based findings on the effective motivational mechanisms for PwMI can guide hospitality/tourism businesses to improve PwMI-targeted marketing effectiveness and efficiency. Originality/value Key theoretical contributions include expanding the explanatory power of travel motivation typologies, enhanced integration of self-determination theory into travel motivation conceptualization and more accurate reflection of the widespread presence of social factors in travel motivations.