Deciphering Predictors of Tourists’ Value and Intention amid COVID-19: The Interplay of Scarcity, Enjoyment, Visual Presentations, and Pandemic Threat

Abstract

The study investigates the factors influencing tourists’ online booking intentions. This study employed structural equation modeling to evaluate the online booking intentions of tourists after the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in India, extending the application of reactance theory in tourism and hospitality services. Mediation and moderation analysis facilitated the unfurling of direct and indirect linkages among the constructs. The findings suggest that online hotel reviews, perceived scarcity, and perceived enjoyment aggrandize tourists’ perceived value quotients, escalating their online booking intentions. Besides, visual presentations improve the strength of the linkage, while perceived pandemic threat weakens the linkage between tourists’ perceived value and online booking intentions. The research demystifies critical facilitators of tourists’ perceived value and online booking intentions that may assist hotel owners in engaging potential tourists and maximizing their hotels’ bottom line. The hotel industry lacks research on perceived scarcity, visual presentations, and perceived pandemic threat. This research adds to the body of knowledge by combining the abovementioned factors through a coherent theoretical framework. It makes prospective tourists cautious about COVID-19’s virulence and the devastating consequences.

Keywords:

• Online hotel reviews
• perceived scarcity
• perceived enjoyment
• reactance theory
• online booking intention
• visual presentations
• perceived pandemic threat

Acknowledgment

The author thanks the editors and anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

The author received funding from the Institution of Eminence (IoE), Banaras Hindu University, India, for carrying out the research [Grant Number: No. R/Dev/D/loE/Seed Grant/2020-21/).

Notes on contributors

Abhijeet Biswas

Abhijeet Biswas is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, India. He is Ph.D. and M.B.A (Gold Medalist) from B.H.U. Dr. Biswas has 13 publications (10 as Sole Author/First Author) in ABDC-ranked, and Scopus Q1-indexed journals, including the International Journal of Bank Marketing.