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Perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance: application of protection motivation theory

Perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance: application of protection motivation theory The COVID-19 pandemic and the travellers’ behaviour towards travel risk is an emerging issue. Nonetheless, the travellers’ perceived COVID-19 impacts, travel risk perception, health and safety perception and travel avoidance concerning protection motivation theory is unnoticed. Following the protection motivation theory, the current study investigates the direct and indirect relationships between perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance. Moreover, the travellers’ cognitive perceptions of risk may vary with their demographic characteristics; therefore, the present study aims to test the differences in group-specific parameter estimates using a multi-group analysis.Design/methodology/approachThe authors approached travellers from Tianjin, China using different communication services, including WeChat and email, through a snowball sampling technique. The study used 553 valid questionnaires for analysis.FindingsThe results of 553 questionnaires in structural equation modelling (SEM) with AMOS 21 indicated that travellers’ perceived Covid-19 impacts positively correlate with travel avoidance. The study model based on protection motivation theory specifies that travel risk perception and health and safety perception as a cognitive mediating process partially mediated the relationship between perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance. The findings specified that during COVID-19, travellers assessed the severity of travel risks and adopted preventive measures which influenced their travel behaviour and led to travel avoidance. The multi-group analysis results indicated no difference in perception for gender and education; however, concerning age, the significant nested p-value specifies a difference in perception.Practical implicationsThe study offers implications for policymakers and the tourism industry to understand the travellers’ perceptions of travel during the pandemic and ensure health and safety measures to encourage travelling and reviving the tourism industry.Originality/valueThe application of protection motivation theory to analyse the travellers’ perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance in the presence of travel risk perception and health and safety perceptions as a cognitive mediating process is novel. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Tourism Review Emerald Publishing

Perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance: application of protection motivation theory

Nazneen, Shama; Xu, Hong; Ud Din, Nizam; Karim, Rehmat
Tourism Review , Volume 77 (2): 13 – Mar 4, 2022
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References (48)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1660-5373
eISSN
1660-5373
DOI
10.1108/tr-03-2021-0165
Publisher site
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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the travellers’ behaviour towards travel risk is an emerging issue. Nonetheless, the travellers’ perceived COVID-19 impacts, travel risk perception, health and safety perception and travel avoidance concerning protection motivation theory is unnoticed. Following the protection motivation theory, the current study investigates the direct and indirect relationships between perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance. Moreover, the travellers’ cognitive perceptions of risk may vary with their demographic characteristics; therefore, the present study aims to test the differences in group-specific parameter estimates using a multi-group analysis.Design/methodology/approachThe authors approached travellers from Tianjin, China using different communication services, including WeChat and email, through a snowball sampling technique. The study used 553 valid questionnaires for analysis.FindingsThe results of 553 questionnaires in structural equation modelling (SEM) with AMOS 21 indicated that travellers’ perceived Covid-19 impacts positively correlate with travel avoidance. The study model based on protection motivation theory specifies that travel risk perception and health and safety perception as a cognitive mediating process partially mediated the relationship between perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance. The findings specified that during COVID-19, travellers assessed the severity of travel risks and adopted preventive measures which influenced their travel behaviour and led to travel avoidance. The multi-group analysis results indicated no difference in perception for gender and education; however, concerning age, the significant nested p-value specifies a difference in perception.Practical implicationsThe study offers implications for policymakers and the tourism industry to understand the travellers’ perceptions of travel during the pandemic and ensure health and safety measures to encourage travelling and reviving the tourism industry.Originality/valueThe application of protection motivation theory to analyse the travellers’ perceived COVID-19 impacts and travel avoidance in the presence of travel risk perception and health and safety perceptions as a cognitive mediating process is novel.

Journal

Tourism Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 4, 2022

Keywords: COVID-19; Pandemic; Travel risk perception; Travel avoidance; Protection motivation theory; 2019冠状病毒病; 大流行; 旅行风险感知; 避免旅行; 保护动机理论; COVID-19; Pandemia; Percepción del riesgo de viaje; Evitación de viajes; Teoría de la motivación de protección

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