Negative and positive antecedents of intention to resume hotel consumption in new normal settings in Malaysia: insight from three psychological theories

PurposeApplying three psychological theories, this study aims to attempt to investigate the role of consumer psychology, specifically the factors of trust in vaccination, threat severity, fear, anxiety, risk and hygiene, and safety, on intention to resume hotel consumption. The authors also tested the mediation effect of anxiety among psychological constructs: perceived threat, fear and risk with the intention to resume hotel consumption.Design/methodology/approachUsing purposive sampling, data were collected from 470 respondents from four cities in Malaysia and analysed by applying analysis of moment structures (AMOS) structural equation model technique. The respondents for this study were frequent travellers meaning the leisure tourists who at least travel twice a year or travel when getting the occasion to explore new things. In this study, an online survey was employed to ensure easy accessibility and to enhance the number of replies.FindingsThe results of this study confirmed that perceived severity, risk and fear influence travellers' anxiety. This study further confirms that trust in vaccination and hygiene & safety provided by the hotelier reduces anxiety levels. Anxiety is found one of the most important predictors of intention to resume hotel consumption, which further mediates the relationship between other psychological variables: perceived severity, risk, fear and intention to resume hotel consumption. Anxiety mediates the relationship between perceived severity, fear and intention to resume hotel consumption and partially mediates the association between risk and intention to resume hotel consumption.Originality/valueThis study examined three psychological theories and extended them by including the trust in vaccination and the hygiene and safety constructs. Anxiety was investigated as a mediator.

"Sinovac safe and halal": The newsworthiness of religion on vaccine reporting in Malaysia

News media reporting on vaccines amid a global pandemic plays a vital role in not only communicating pertinent details, but also in shaping the public's attitude towards vaccines. Indeed, despite global efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through vaccination, the public's attitude towards vaccines has been varied. This qualitative study attempts to discern the relationship between media reports and public concern by exploring religion as a newsworthy aspect for media reporting on COVID-19 vaccines in Malaysia. We drew upon insights from discursive news values analysis (DNVA) to examine news headlines from 10 Malaysian newspapers in English and Bahasa Malaysia. A focus group discussion (FGD) conducted with five selected members of the public supplemented the primary data. Findings show that religion is a newsworthy aspect of COVID-19 vaccine reporting in Malaysia, with newspapers utilising all nine discursive news values, particularly impact, eliteness, timeliness, and proximity, through the ways in which linguistic resources were utilised to frame the media reporting. This was particularly notable in the Bahasa Malaysia headlines, more than the English headlines. The FGD further reveals that religion is a powerful factor that can steer public reception for or against vaccines, a fact which has been exploited by the media. This paper, therefore, contributes to an emerging body of work on DNVA besides offering useful insights for media practitioners.

The panic buying behavior of consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Examining the influences of uncertainty, perceptions of severity, perceptions of scarcity, and anxiety

The lack of a vaccine for COVID-19 and the limited amount of reliable data on the cessation of the disease have made people feel more vulnerable to the disease. As a result, people in many countries have been found to engage in panic purchasing, which has adversely affected the supply system for the retail market. Applying behavioral inhibition system theory, reactance theory, and expectancy theory, this research examines how psychological factors such as uncertainty, perceptions of severity, perceptions of scarcity, and anxiety affected the panic purchasing behavior of consumers. This study was conducted in Malaysia in light of the 2020 outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from structural equation modeling indicate that uncertainty, and perceptions of scarcity are positively associated with anxiety but not with the panic purchasing behavior of consumers. In addition, anxiety fully mediates the relationship among these variables and the panic purchasing behavior of consumers. Taken together, these findings provide support for doing more empirical research in order to develop a more resilient retail strategy and to improve consumer service. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd