Spanish bad weather - but the Swede dreams of tapas

Spain tops the list of most booked destinations at the travel agency Ticket. Six of the top ten destinations for the first two weeks of November are in Spain.

For example, Malaga, which has recently been hit hard by flooding, is third on the list.

Per Kristensson, professor of psychology at Karlstad University, has researched consumer psychology and consumer behavior. He is not the least bit surprised.

We handle information in a slightly biased way when we make decisions. You don't think about the bad things, but see other things ahead of you.

Thinking Wrong

A term psychologists use is "affective forecasting".

We use emotions when we guess what we will be satisfied with in the future. People have a very hard time predicting how they will experience different things. They simply make mistakes.

The mistake we make is to go to the most obvious emotional occasions, explains Per Kristensson.

Then it's the sun, red wine, tapas, and promenade walks that come to mind for people. Instead of thinking more rationally: "There has been a very bad weather there. Maybe it's not even good that we're going to Spain right now."

Traveling Collectively

He compares it to a study he did on getting more drivers to choose to travel collectively.

Then they say at once that they have it so cozy when they drive. They don't think about things like avoiding traffic jams. No one answers that they would save a lot of money.

He also points out how important it is for people who have experienced disasters to get back to normal.