Decoding domestic tourism customers’ emotional responses to covid-19: A segmentation approach

ABSTRACT

Tourists’ emotional responses to crises have been conceived from a unitary perspective despite the potential existence of different segments of emotional reactions. Using data from 412 residents drawn from Macau, this study segments their emotional responses toward the COVID-19 pandemic, characterizes the segments by their perceived travel risk and future travel intentions. The findings reveal that there are three segments of residents’ emotional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, namely deeply depressed, depressed, and phlegmatic. The deeply depressed have strong negative sentiments toward the pandemic with the highest perceived travel risk and least desire to travel in the future. The depressed have moderate negative emotions toward the pandemic with moderate perceived travel risk and desire to travel in the future while the phlegmatic have indifferent positive and negative emotions toward the pandemic with the least perceived travel risk and highest desire to travel in the future. The implications of these findings with regard to how to restart tourism with the domestic tourism market are discussed.

摘要

虽然游客对危机可能有不同类别的情绪反应, 但就被视为是來自相同角度。本研究採用412 名澳门居民的数据, 就他们对新冠疫情大流行的情绪反应进行细分, 并根据他们感知的旅行风险和未来的旅行意图进行归纳。结果显示, 居民对新冠疫情大流行的情绪反应可分为三个类别, 即极度沮丧, 沮丧和冷漠。极度沮丧的群体对新冠疫情有着强烈的负面情绪, 他们感知到的旅行风险最高, 对未来外遊的意愿最低。沮丧群体对流行病有适度的负面情绪, 感知的旅行风险和未来旅行意愿皆为中等。而冷漠群体对新冠疫情則为无动于衷, 他们感知到的旅行风险最小, 未来外遊意愿最高。透过这些发现, 本文将讨论如何通过国内旅游市场重启旅游业。

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic tourism customers
• emotional response
• segmentation
• COVID-19 pandemic
• recovery
• macau

关键词:

• 国内旅客
• 情绪反应
• 细分
• 新冠疫情大流行
• 恢复
• 澳门

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Issahaku Adam

Issahaku Adam is Associate Professor at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management of the University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana and Senior Research Associate at the School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. His research interests include crises management in tourism, tourist behavior and experience, accessible tourism, backpacker vulnerabilities, and gendered entrepreneurial pathways in tourism (E-mail: [email protected]).

Elizabeth Agyeiwaah is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau. She received her Ph.D. at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests include sustainable tourism development, small and medium tourism enterprises, and tourist studies (E-mail: [email protected]/ [email protected]).

Frederick Dayour is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Wa, Ghana and Senior Research Associate at the School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. His research interests comprise ICTs in tourism, tourist behaviors, consumer risk perception, backpacker behavior, and SMEs in tourism and hospitality (E-mail: [email protected]).