The Influence of Perceived Behavioral Control and Desire to Travel on Domestic Travel Intention to Bangkok: A Moderated Mediation Model of Tourists' Attitudes and Preferences

ABSTRACT

This study's objective was to investigate how desire to travel, and perceived behavioral control, affected domestic travel intentions for travel to Bangkok at the time of the COVID-19 epidemic. The study suggests that attitudes and preferences can be considered as moderators for both the association between perceived behavioral control and intentions to travel domestically, as well as the association between perceived behavioral control and desire to travel. It also suggests that attitudes and preferences can moderate the strength of the mediated relationship. The sample used in this study was collected from June 2022, after Thailand began to relax the most recent COVID-19 health regulations. A total of 400 responses were collected and utilized in the study. For testing H1 on the effects of mediation, the data were analyzed using moderated multiple regression via Hayes' Process Macro v4.2 with SPSS, while H2 and H3 were examined using moderated hierarchical regression analysis. H4 was then examined using the moderated mediation model. The results suggest that the magnitude of the mediated association between perceived behavioral control and domestic travel intentions for Thai domestic tourism was moderated by tourists' attitudes and preferences. The conditional indirect effect of perceived behavioral control and the desire to travel on the intention to travel domestically was strong when attitudes and preferences were valued highly.