The Characteristics of the Financially Vulnerable Groups Impacted by COVID-19 and Other Factors

Businesses have been exposed to various challenges during the global pandemic. Unfortunately, the financially vulnerable groups in society are disproportionately affected by such a difficult time. Therefore, it is important for businesses to recognise this when creating new business models for sustainable corporate management. This paper attempts to (1) identify the factors that affect individual financial vulnerability, (2) develop survey items to assess financial vulnerability and its factors and (3) provide the characteristics of financially vulnerable groups by presenting a complete set of descriptive statistics. The results can help to create more inclusive business models that are better equipped to address the challenges ahead. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with collaboration with an NGO that provides a financial counselling service in Hong Kong. In total, 338 valid responses were collected and the data were used to characterise financially vulnerable groups in terms of (1) change in financial conditions due to COVID-19;(2) exposure to digitised financial services and related push marketing;(3) financial management ability;(4) changes in four financial behaviours and (5) financial vulnerability as measured according to the debt/service ratio. Results show that the respondents have a median debt/service ratio of 0.513, which represents an unsustainable level of debt. Around 1/4 of surveyed respondents reported that their debt/service ratio was 1 or even higher, indicating obvious difficulties in meeting financial obligations. A total of 36.7% of the respondents reported worsening financial conditions since the outbreak of COVID-19. The results presented provide a solid empirical set of data that will help future research work to examine and/or develop a heuristic financial vulnerability model that incorporates the key factors leading to it. Businesses can refer to them when creating new business models that are sustainable, able to meet corporate social responsibility goals and can achieve several targets/goals of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

Post-pandemic outbound travel intentions and preparations of Chinese residents: The effects of media coverage and risk perception

This study aims to explore Chinese residents' outbound travel intentions and preparations in the post-pandemic world that are influenced by media coverage and risk perception. A conceptual model is proposed to test the structural relationships among media coverage, risk perception, outbound travel intentions and preparations. This study administered an online survey to Chinese residents who had outbound travel experiences, and a total of 441 valid responses were collected for data analysis. The results indicated that media coverage exerted significant impact on cognitive and affective risk perceptions, outbound travel intentions and preparations. Furthermore, cognitive risk perception was positively related to affective risk perception, which significantly influenced outbound travel intentions and preparations. Outbound travel intentions were verified as the determinant of outbound travel preparations. Additionally, the mediating roles of affective risk perception and outbound travel intentions were confirmed. This study is amongst the first to introduce the concept of outbound travel preparations as a new research avenue for post-pandemic outbound travel behaviour.