The Adventurous Tourist Amidst a Pandemic: Effects of Personality, Attitudes, and Affect

Keywords

COVID-19; market segmentation; negative affectivity; risk-taking; sensation seeking; travel

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.

Publication Date

10-2022

Original Citation

Torres, E. N., Wei, W., & Ridderstaat, J. (2022). The adventurous tourist amidst a pandemic: Effects of personality, attitudes, and affect. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 28(4), 424–438. https://doi.org/10.1177/13567667211063208

Document Type

Paper

Language

English

Source Title

Journal of Vacation Marketing

Volume

28

Issue

4

College

Rosen College of Hospitality Management

Location

Rosen College of Hospitality Management

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