The adventurous tourist amidst a pandemic: Effects of personality, attitudes, and affect

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.

Antecedents and Impacts of the Pilgrimage Destination Personality in the Tibetan Region: Case from Larong Wuming Buddhist Academy

The present research aims to explore the perceived destination personality of the Larong Wuming Buddhist Academy, a site that is a pilgrimage destination in the Tibetan region of China, and to examine the influence of involvement as an antecedent on the destination personality. This study further investigates the direct and indirect impact of a destination personality on loyalty. A total of 2454 online travel reviews and a convenience sample of 348 usable surveys were analyzed. The personalities of the pilgrimage destination in three specific dimensions were revealed, namely, the religious, agreeable, and ethereal dimensions. The findings verified the positive effect of tourist involvement on the pilgrimage destination personality. Furthermore, in the context of a pilgrimage, the mediating role of self-congruity and satisfaction between the destination personality and loyalty has been confirmed.

The family experiences in the daily local-guided tours: Evidence from the sharing economy platform (Withlocals)

Despite the increasing popularity of family travels and the importance of the daily local tours in the sharing economy, there is no research combining both and it is still very much lacking. Hence, this paper seeks to explore family experiences of the daily local-guided tours offered on a sharing economy platform, Withlocals, utilizing online narratives. To attain this aim, this study applies netnography approach and involves a total of 867 family experience reviews. As a result of the analysis, eight components revealed: local guides’ attributes, awe, learning, memorable, child-friendly activities, engaging tour members, family-friendly tips, and novelty. The outcomes serve as indicators for local guides in addressing the essentials and expectations in family local-guided experience. As well as having practical implications, the results yield valuable theoretical insights for family tourism literature by opening a new door for future studies.

The influence of gaming and non-gaming experience on customers’ response to the casino

The study examines how customers’ experiences with gaming and non-gaming services offered by casino resorts affect their response toward the casino with the primary visiting purpose being modelled as a moderator. The response opted for this study includes place attachment, customer spending within the casino premises during their trip, and willingness to revisit and spread word of mouth as loyalty indicators. The study was undertaken in Macau casino resorts. Data were collected from visitors who had gambled and consumed in at least one of the resorts. The results show that customer experience, place attachment, and spend were significantly related to customer loyalty. Place attachment accounts for customers’ spending at the casino. The moderation relationships are rather complex, dependent upon the influence of other variables. This research enriches experiential marketing, consumer behaviour, and loyalty research. The findings may also be utilised by casinos to develop more appropriate marketing strategies to maximise business profitability.

Pay Now or Pay Later: The Impact of Time on Payment Preference in Hotel Booking

The “book now, pay later” phenomenon is one form of payment which has flow-on effects such as increasing last-minute cancelations. To encourage prepayment, some hotels have been offering a price discount or free upgrade for choosing the “pay now” option, but little is known about which incentives can generate better outcomes. This study aims to examine what types of payment options are preferable based on the time between booking and check-in (i.e. temporal distance), and to investigate how the payment options and temporal distance jointly influence perceived risks. The findings demonstrate that while people prefer the pay now with monetary incentive option when traveling time is in the near future, they mostly prefer the pay later option when traveling time is distant. In addition, people planning a trip in the distant future perceive significantly higher risks from the pay now with non-monetary and monetary incentive options than from the pay later option.

The impact of online reviews on destination trust and travel intention: The moderating role of online review trustworthiness

This study explores the impact of the valence (positive/negative) and emotional intensity (strong/weak) of online reviews on potential Chinese visitors’ travel intentions and trust of a destination. An experimental design was used to test the hypotheses. Findings suggest that online review valence and emotional intensity affect travel intentions and that destination trust can partially mediate this relationship. Changes in destination trust and travel intention due to positive/negative review emotional intensity changes are not equivalent. Furthermore, online review trustworthiness moderates the valence and destination trust and travel intention relationships, but not the effect of review emotional intensity on the same outcomes.

How do online hotel consumers perceive room rates?

While it has been perceived that hotel consumers using online travel agencies (OTAs) are overall price sensitive, a dominant use of OTAs in hotel booking suggests that there are more diverse consumers in terms of price perception. As such, this study investigates the price sensitivity of the Online Travel Agency (OTA) consumer segments, using price sensitivity measurement (PSM) by using factor analysis and cluster analysis. The results showed four OTA consumer segments, i.e., planned bargain seekers, enthusiastic shoppers, deal hunters, and apathetic shoppers. Differences in price sensitivity was confirmed among these segments. This study uncovers the characteristics of OTA consumers who are more (less) price sensitive. By using PSM, this study presents and compares the optimal pricing points across the customer segments in terms of monetary values. Based on the findings, this study provides theoretical and practical implications.

New insights on satisfaction prototypes for segmentation: Focus on customer experience

This paper tests a conceptual segmentation using a criterion outlined by Oliver based on the satisfaction prototypes customers may follow. The empirical study was conducted with a sample of theme park visitors grouped into four satisfaction prototypes/segments. Results show the presence of important differences by groups in terms of both the effects of perceived value dimensions on satisfaction and the level of satisfaction by segment, supporting the proposed approach. The findings are valuable for a better identification of key drivers of segments’ satisfaction, which will be helpful to redesign service experiences to better fit the varying preferences of modern consumers.

Hungry for food and community: A study of visitors to food and wine festivals

The present study explored the effects of various food and wine festival experience elements (e.g. authenticity, entertainment, and spending time with others) on visitors’ sense of community, identification, and place attachment. The authors conducted survey research with 304 former visitors to food festivals. Data were analyzed using partial least square – structural equation modeling. Results revealed that food and wine festival experience elements (e.g. authenticity, entertainment, and spending time with friends and family) positively influenced visitors’ sense of community, identification with the event, and attachment to the hosting destination. Significant findings relating to the mediating effect of sense of community were also disclosed throughout this study. The present research exposes some of the expectations held by visitors to food and wine festivals. Furthermore, this study contributes to the literature by exposing the role of community and customer interactions in creating the overall food and beverage experience and forming a destination's image.

The Use of Mobile Applications for Travel Booking: Impacts of Application Quality and Brand Trust

The increasing use of mobile applications by travellers and the high adaption of tourism companies into this new contact and sales platform, made it necessary to comprehensively investigate the mobile application users’ behaviours. This research combines the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to develop a theoretical background in examining travel booking behaviour of mobile application users. The conceptual model suggests that mobile application quality (MAQ) directly affects perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) which influence the intention to use (IU) mobile applications. Moreover, the offline brand trust (BT) has been hypothesised as a moderator between PEOU and PU's impacts on IU mobile applications. Analyses results indicated that system and service quality dimensions of MAQ significantly affect IU mobile application via PEOU and PU. Moreover, offline BT had both direct and moderator influences on the formation of IU mobile application. The study findings contributed to the theory in understanding mobile application users’ behaviours and suggested valuable managerial strategies in the m-commerce context.