ABSTRACT
A comparative vignette-based experimental survey design incorporating various socio-psychological factors, linked to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking scale (DOSPERT) was carried out to test variations in eight travel-related COVID-19 protective measures on Swiss tourists' travel intentions. Among the tested measures, vaccination passports, surgical masks and quarantining are those that stand out the most, with surgical masks having the greatest acceptance and willingness to adopt while traveling. Quarantining, on the other hand, appears to have a deterrent influence on travel intentions, and vaccination passports have the lowest perceived barriers during travel, but the highest perceived benefits in mitigating the spread of the infection. The discussion of individual differences has specific implications for tourism management against the background of our empirical findings.
ABSTRACT
Based on the factors of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the Health Belief Model (HBM), and the DOSPERT scale, used to measure general risk-taking behaviour, a combined model has been developed for investigating tourists' intentions to implement protective measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The purpose of the study is to formulate a model that Swiss tourism practitioners can use to understand tourists' decision-making regarding the acceptance and proper implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). A large-scale cross-sectional population study that is representative for the Swiss population has been designed to validate the model (N = 1,683; 39% response rate). In our empirical investigation, a simple regression analysis is used to detect significant factors and their strength. Our empirical findings show that the significant effects can be ordered regarding descending effect size from severity (HBM), attitude (TPB), perceived behavioural control (TPB), subjective norm (TPB), self-efficacy (HBM), and perceived barriers (HBM) to susceptibility (HBM). Based on this information, intervention strategies and corresponding protective measures were linked to the social-psychological factors based on an expert workshop. Low-cost interventions for tourists (less time, less money, and more comfort), such as the free provision of accessories (free mask and sanitizers) or free testing (at cable cars), can increase the perceived behavioural control and lower the perceived barriers and thus increase the acceptance of this protective measure.