The adventurous tourist amidst a pandemic: Effects of personality, attitudes, and affect. (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Torres, Edwin N; Wei, Wei; Ridderstaat, Jorge
• Is Part Of: Journal of vacation marketing. Volume 28:Number 4(2022)
• Page Start: 424
• Page End: 438
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: sensation seeking -- risk-taking -- negative affectivity -- travel -- COVID-19 -- market segmentation; Hospitality industry -- Marketing -- Periodicals; Travel -- Marketing -- Periodicals; Tourism -- Marketing -- Periodicals; 338.4791
• DOI: 10.1177/13567667211063208
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1356-7667

Abstract

To better understand travel and hospitality consumers' purchasing behavior amidst a worldwide emergency commonly referenced as COVID-19, the present research set out to assess the impacts of sensation-seeking, consumer affect, and risk-taking attitude on consumers' willingness to purchase travel-related activities. A sample of 775 adult U.S. consumers were recruited with the help of a professional research consulting company. Simple and multiple regression analyses were performed for the purpose of hypotheses testing. Results demonstrate that individuals with higher sensation-seeking levels, lower negative affectivity, and who identify themselves as risk-takers are more willing to engage in various travel and commercial hospitality activities. Furthermore, sensation-seeking proves to be the most influential factor in driving consumers' willingness to purchase amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors conclude by proposing a typology (illustrated in two different grids) of consumers based on their levels of sensation-seeking (high vs. low), affect (positive vs. negative), and risk-taking attitude (high vs. low). Theoretically, the model helps predict which consumers are most likely to engage in travel-related activities despite of the challenges posed by global pandemics.