Pandemic experience and locus of protection

ABSTRACT

This study sets out to investigate how an individual's pandemic experience at home impacts health risk perception of an international destination and a public venue. Moreover, it examines the psychological perspective of preventive measures (mask vs. vaccine) concerning the locus of protection (self- vs. other-oriented). The results suggest that people would inflate health risk to psychologically defend the self. This inflation can be reduced by vaccinationinformation of the locals or other customers more so than mask information. The locus of protection overpowers objective effectiveness and efficacy information in determining health risk perception for those were more seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings imply that the travellers' and consumers' pandemic experience should be considered as an important predictor on travel and consumption decisions. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd