Understanding residents’ hospitality toward tourists amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a conservation of resources perspective

Abstract

Rooted in conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study investigated the effects of perceived threat severity (PTSE) and susceptibility (PTSU) of COVID-19 pandemic on residents’ hospitality toward tourists. The mediating role of COVID-19-caused stress and the moderating role of economic benefits from tourism were addressed. Data were collected from 281 destination residents in Xiamen and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings indicate that the negative effect of PTSE on residents’ hospitality toward tourists is stronger than that of PTSU, and both effects are partially mediated by COVID-19-caused stress. Furthermore, economic benefits from tourism significantly moderates the effects of PTSE, PTSU, and COVID-19-caused stress on residents’ hospitality toward tourists, and these effects are insignificant for residents with high economic benefits from tourism. Theoretically, this study advances literature on residents’ attitudes toward tourism by introducing COR theory to build a framework centered on resource loss and replenishment. Practically, useful strategies are proposed to reduce the negative effects of PTSE and PTSU of COVID-19 pandemic and thus foster residents’ hospitality toward tourists.

Keywords:

• Perceived threat
• COVID-19 pandemic
• residents’ hospitality
• conservation of resources theory
• stress
• economic benefits

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the reviewers for their beneficial suggestions that helped improve this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Scientific Research Start-Up Project for Talent Introduction in Qingdao University.

Notes on contributors

Shuhao Li

Shuhao Li is an associate professor at the School of Tourism and Geography Science, Qingdao University. His research interests include tourist behaviors, hospitality customer behaviors, and tourism destination management.

Tianyu Fu

Tianyu Fu is a PhD candidate at the Department of Management Science, School of Management, Xiamen University. Her research interests include service marketing, service management, and supply chain management.

Hailin Qu

Hailin Qu is the Visiting Chair Professor at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, School of Management, Xiamen University, and the Regents Professor Emeritus and William E. Davis Distinguished Chair Emeritus in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Oklahoma State University. His research interests are hospitality and tourism service quality and consumer behavior and loyalty.

Mimi Chen

Mimi Chen is a postgraduate student at the School of Tourism and Geography Science, Qingdao University. Her research interests include tourist behaviors and tourism destination management.