When,where, and with whom during crisis: The effect of risk perceptions and psychological distance on travel intentions

We investigate how risk perceptions and psychological distance impacted people's travel intentions during Covid-19. Our findings reveal that traveling to a high-risk destination increased people's risk perceptions of Covid-19, and their risk perceptions at the destination, which, in turn, reduced people's travel intentions. We identify temporal, spatial, and social distance (the “when, where, and with whom” of traveling) as moderators of these effects; while social distance moderates the effect of risk, on risk perceptions, temporal and spatial distance moderate the effect of risk perceptions on travel intentions. We outline theoretical contributions and implications for tourism during crisis.     

How tourism activity shapes travel experience sharing: Tourist well-being and social context

Why people conduct different sharing about their travel is unclear. Understudied areas include the roles of tourism activity type, tourist well-being, and social context. Under the framework of construal level theory, three studies which combined secondary data and experiments revealed that: 1) challenging (relaxing) tourism activities lead to more desirability (feasibility) sharing; 2) eudaimonia (hedonia) occupy the dominant position and mediate the relationship between challenging (relaxing) tourism activity and desirability (feasibility) sharing; and 3) social context induces the transformation of the relationship between eudaimonia and hedonia, and has a significant moderating impact on the mechanism of travel experience sharing type. Theoretical and managerial implications of travel experience sharing type and mutual transformation between eudaimonia and hedonia are discussed.     

Short video marketing and travel intentions: The interplay between visual perspective,visual content,and narration appeal

Social media short videos represent a powerful tool for tourism destination promotion. However, little research has investigated their effect on tourist travel intentions. Drawing on the construal level theory and the elaboration likelihood model, this study investigates the interactive effects between visual and verbal framing of promotional tourism short video on travel intention through two scenario-based experiments. Study 1 examined the interaction effect between visual perspective and visual content. The results indicated that the match between first-person (versus third-person) perspective and activity-centric (versus site-centric) content fosters higher travel intention through enhancing imagery fluency. Study 2 further examined the moderating role of narration message appeal and revealed that first-person perspective with activity-centric content leads to higher travel intention when paired with rational (versus emotional) narration messages, with affect intensity playing a significant mediating role. These findings contribute to knowledge on short video marketing and provide valuable insights for tourism marketers.     

Understanding the impact of culinary brand equity and destination familiarity on travel intentions

This paper explores determinants of brand equity and the role of destination familiarity for travel intentions in culinary tourism from the perspective of foreign tourists. This analysis advocates four elements for brand equity (brand loyalty, brand image, perceived quality and brand awareness) for culinary travel intentions in Taiwan. Building on extensive literature, this study developed and empirically tested a model of the relationship using survey data collected from 407 foreign tourists from ten regions. The results indicate that there is a direct positive relationship between brand equity and travel intentions in culinary tourism. Moreover, the study recognizes the moderating role of destination familiarity, which positively moderates the effect of brand loyalty and perceived quality on travel intentions.     

Storytelling approach of the self-reported slow adventure to Tibet: Constructing experience and identity

Most of our travel experiences are stored, recorded, and relived in the form of stories; tourist blogs have emerged as a modern form of travel story. These stories provide information about exciting moments and memorable events, which are usually emotional highpoints that can be useful for tourism marketers. Based on the sociological concept of storytelling, this study investigates which aspects of the slow adventure experience travelers present in their travel blogs through a rubric elaborated on extant literature. The findings reveal three types of slow adventure stories, and each type of story relates to a different identity construction. The article concludes with a discussion of its theoretical contributions in terms of adding to the literature of adventure tourism and storytelling. In revealing the themes and identities relating to specific slow adventure experiences, it provides potential practical implications of travel blogs for slow adventure product designers and marketers.     

Bringing the past to life: Co-creating tourism experiences in historic house tourist attractions

This ethnographic study concentrates on the co-creation of experiential value between the tourist and tour guide in a single historic tourism site; Huntingdon Castle, Ireland. Built upon the principles of service dominant logic, the research explores how storytelling acts as an engagement platform and value enhancing strategic resource. In doing so, it impels the value co-creation journey and shapes the tourist's experience. Observation is coupled with qualitative interviews to capture the dual perspective of both guides and tourists. Findings exhibit the co-creation process through the performance of stories; how and when people derive pleasure (value); the influencing aspects of the environment or place; and guide/tourist perspectives on how they feel and think during the experience. The research contributes by taking a practical operational view of how co-creation occurs. It goes beyond the guide's perspective and exhibits the importance of co-creation of lived experience in the story enhanced tourism experience framework.     

Tourism crisis management: Can the Extended Parallel Process Model be used to understand crisis responses in the cruise industry?

The purpose of this paper was to understand the effect of crisis communication on people's risk perception attitude, perceived safety, and cruise travel intentions. Specifically, this study was concerned with the emerging health issues of Norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships. A between-subjects experiment was conducted. Responses were collected from 169 participants after presenting them with different crisis communication messages. Drawing on the Extended Parallel Process Model, the findings revealed that perceived threat directly affected respondents' attitude towards the involved cruise line, while perceived efficacy moderated the relationship between perceived threat and perceived safety of cruising. Additionally, the results of this study indicated that perceived safety mediated the relationship between perceived threat and cruise travel intentions, and this mediating relationship was moderated by perceived efficacy. This study's findings suggest new theoretical approaches for understanding tourism crisis communication and recommend an audience-centered paradigm in communicating health crisis issues in tourism and travel.     

Reflecting the convergence or divergence of Chinese outbound solo travellers based on the stimulus-organism-response model: A gender comparison perspective

Solo travel has grown as a significant segment in the tourism market, and outbound travel for solo travel is also increasing. However, the phenomenon remains anecdotal and lacks academic investigation. Therefore, based on of the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model and focusing on Chinese solo tourists in the outbound travel market, the current study aims to examine the relationships among cultural distance, emotional solidarity and perceived safety and their effect on both solo male and female tourists' behavioural intentions. The similarities of solo travellers and their gender differences are prioritized in the findings, which sheds light on destination practitioners taking measures to serve the solo tourism market considering tourists' gender.     

Investigating the Structural Relationships Between Food Image,Food Satisfaction,Culinary Quality,and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of Malaysia

This study was designed to test a theoretical model determining the relationships among tourists' perceived food image, food satisfaction, culinary quality, and behavioral intentions. The structural relationships between the variables were examined by adopting a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, and the empirical data was collected in Malaysia. Analysis of findings revealed that (a) tourists' perceived food image played a role in directly influencing food satisfaction and quality of culinary experience (culinary quality); (b) food image influenced tourists' behavioral intentions through culinary quality; (c) tourist satisfaction with their food experience directly affected perceived quality of their culinary experience and behavioral intentions; and (d) tourists' behavioral intentions were directly affected by their evaluation of culinary quality. This study concluded that food was an imperative contributor in destination tourism due to its capability in influencing tourists' perceived image, food satisfaction, culinary quality, and consequently impacting tourists' behaviors in the selection of a travel destination.     

Understanding the Relationship of Service Fairness,Emotions, Trust,and Tourist Behavioral Intentions at a City Destination in China

This study presents a cognitive appraisal model that identifies consumption emotions and trust as key mediators in the relationship between perceived service fairness and behavioral intentions (i.e., revisit intentions and word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals). The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed to examine empirically a conceptual tourist behavior model using questionnaires answered by 541 tourists in Xiamen, a “garden city” in China. The findings confirmed the mediating role of emotions and trust, which imply that the travel behavioral intentions formation process is both an emotional experience process and a relationship building process between tourists and the destination service providers. By understanding the relationship and linkages between perceived service fairness and behavioral intentions, city managers, urban tourism managers, and service providers can formulate more effective marketing strategies to strengthen tourists’ loyalty, revisit and WOM referral intentions.     

Testing the effects of congruity, travel constraints, and self-efficacy on travel intentions: An alternative decision-making model

Travel decision making has been extensively studied. Various models and theories have been proposed to explain tourist behavior. Taking a new approach, this study applied the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model to explain travel intentions. The MOA model suggests that motivation, opportunity, and ability are major factors influencing travel intentions. This study explored the role of self-congruity, functional congruity, perceived travel constraints, constraint negotiation, and self-efficacy on travel intentions.The proposed model and hypotheses were tested in the context of cruise tourism. An online panel survey was conducted with cruisers. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test both the proposed model and hypothesized relationships among the constructs. All hypotheses except one were supported by the data. The proposed model also had an acceptable fit to the data.     

The Tourism Market's Response to the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires: The Case of Gippsland

One of the key roles of a destination marketing organization (DMO) is to portray their destination in such a way that it is both appealing and inviting to their existing and potential tourism market. A challenge faced by a DMO in the regional Victorian destination of Gippsland in Australia, is the fact that they also have to manage unanticipated sudden changes in market perceptions that may occur in response to a disastrous event. The reoccurring natural disasters of this region (fires, floods and drought)—the most recent being the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, deemed Australia's worst natural disaster in history—make it imperative that DMOs can respond effectively. This article presents the findings of an exploratory research project designed to investigate the tourism market's response to this particular disastrous event. The primary aim of the research was to better understand how a large-scale disaster impacts upon the tourist's destination image and visitation intentions, and the role of the media in these deliberations. Focus group research reveals the post-disaster media interpretations, images, and visitation intentions of intrastate and interstate, regional and metropolitan tourists. Differences are observed in relation to the participants' geographic location and distance from the fires and their understandings of the event, including their reflections on media coverage. Varying perceptions among the participants of the impact of the fires, the travel risk, and subsequent travel intentions are discussed. Managerial implications relating to media management and the refinement of future disaster management strategies are also presented.     

Yesterday once more? Autobiographical memory evocation effects on tourists' post-travel purchase intentions toward destination products

When tourists return home from a remote tourism destination, it is not uncommon for them to encounter the destination's products being sold in their hometown. Autobiographical memory evocation is likely to affect their purchase intentions. This study aims to examine the effects of autobiographical memory evocation on behavioral responses. A conceptual model was developed to examine the causal relationships of product-destination congruity, travel satisfaction, autobiographical memory, evoked pleasure, destination attachment and purchase intention. Data were obtained from 342 tourists who had visited the heritage city of Lijiang, China. Autobiographical memory is found to lead to pleasure and a positive mood, higher levels of destination attachment, and greater purchase intentions for the product available in the tourist's hometown. Managerial implications are discussed.     

A framework for managing quality in the tourist experience

While the impacts of tourism have received considerable attention, relatively little research has focused on the impacts of tourism from the perspective of the tourists themselves. This paper examines the impacts of tourism on the quality of the tourist's experience. A synthesis of previous research identifies an interrelated series of experiential impacts related to tourist activity. The resulting understanding of the factors that threaten the quality of the tourist experience provides the basis for a management framework aimed toward protecting quality recreation/tourist experiences. The suggested management framework focuses on the identification of undesirable impacts on the tourist experience, the determination of causal factors related to these impacts, and the selection of potential management strategies for ameliorating the undesirable impacts.     

Factors influencing repeat visits to a destination: The influence of group composition

This paper is an analysis of the likelihood for repeat visits to a sun and sand destination by tourists. For this purpose, an empirical study was conducted using tourists who had visited the destination. The analysis took into account the travelling group composition. The results showed that, for the total tourist sample, overall satisfaction had the biggest influence on the decision of whether to revisit a destination, while the least important influence was the tourist's perceived image. These influences varied, however, when different travelling group compositions were considered. The results are of vital importance in tourism management policies, because they can contribute to the better design and development of tourism promotion strategies.     

The impact of advertising on patrons’ emotional responses,perceived value,and behavioral intentions in the chain restaurant industry: The moderating role of advertising-induced arousal

The purpose of this study was twofold: to investigate the structural relationships between patrons’ emotional responses induced by advertising, their perceived value, and their behavioral intentions in the chain restaurant industry; and to investigate which attributes of advertising bear the strongest impact on behavioral intentions. Based on the literature review, six evaluative dimensions of advertising were derived: relevant news, brand reinforcement, stimulation, empathy, familiarity, and confusion. Theoretical relationships between these six evaluative dimensions and patrons’ emotional responses, perceived value, and behavioral intentions were derived based on the literature review. Following the collection and analysis of data obtained from chain restaurant patrons, it was found that four dimensions of advertising in particular (relevant news, stimulation, empathy, and familiarity) have a significant impact on inducing emotional responses in patrons. Among the four dimensions, stimulation was found to bear the most significant effect on patrons’ emotional responses. It can thus be stated that advertising-induced emotional responses positively influence patrons’ perceived value. During this study, it was found that the level of arousal induced by advertising plays a moderating function in the relationship between patrons’ emotional responses and hedonic value. The possible interpretations of these findings and their managerial implications are discussed in the latter part of this article.     

Vivid-memory formation through experiential value in the context of the international industrial exhibition

This study empirically tests the relationships between experiential value, vividness, storytelling intentions, and patronage intentions in the industrial exhibitions, and examines the moderating effect of mementos. A total of 211 respondents were recruited from visitors to the international game exhibition. According to the results, (1) three dimensions of experiential value (service excellence, playfulness, and aesthetics) had positive effects on vividness, (2) vividness positively influenced storytelling and patronage intentions, (3) storytelling intentions increased patronage intentions, and (4) mementos had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between vividness and storytelling intentions but not on the relationship between vividness and patronage intentions.     

Exploring the Effects of Heritage Site Image on Souvenir Shopping Attitudes: The Moderating Role of Perceived Cultural Difference

Although tourism image and souvenir shopping play critical roles in travel decisions and tourist behaviors, little is known about the relationship between them. This article seeks to address two deficits in the literature by presenting (1) the linkage between tourism image and souvenir shopping and (2) the direct and moderating effects of perceived cultural difference. Using the data drawn from UNESCO heritage sites, the authors first validated a second-order construct of heritage site image, then tested the effects of this construct and perceived cultural difference on tourists’ attitudes toward souvenir shopping in two structural models. The uncovered direct and moderated results offer important implications for tourism and hospitality theories and practice.     

Determinants of Length of Stay for Domestic Tourists: Case Study of Yixing

The length of stay of a tourist is one of the most important factors indicating consumption levels and revenue generation for certain tourist destinations. This study employs data from a tourist survey in Yixing, China, to investigate potential factors influencing a tourist's length of stay. Applying an ordered logit model, it is found that distance, age, organized tour, transportation, motivation, past visits and assessment of accommodation are some of the major determinants of a tourist's length of stay. The results indicate that traveling distance and the assessment of accommodation are positively associated with the length of stay. In addition, tourists with different modes of transportation, motivations and past visits have different durations of stay. Based on the estimation results from subsamples, it is also found that there are differences in determinants of length of stay between organized tourists and individual tourists, and among different age groups.     

Antecedents of loyalty toward rural hospitality enterprises: The moderating effect of the customer's previous experience

This paper aims to identify the consumer behavior variables and the moderating effect of customers’ previous experience that generate greater customer loyalty toward rural hospitality enterprises. A model is proposed that encompasses the moderating effect of customer experience on the relationships between: the functional and affective perceived value of the firm's offer; the firm's reputation; and customer satisfaction – and the effect of these variables on loyalty-driven behaviors (recommendation and repurchase intentions). The work finds that functional and affective perceived value influence reputation and satisfaction, and that this effect is moderated by the customer's experience. When they have prior experience of the firm, affective perceived value takes precedence over functional perceived value. However, functional perceived value constitutes the most valued element when customers are using the services of the firm for the first time. Reputation and satisfaction are also found to contribute to the generation of better recommendation and repurchase intentions.