The Impact of Perceived Risk on Information Search: A Study of Finnish Tourists

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the impact of perceived risk on travel behavior and information search, and explore the mediating effect of tourist type. The results based on a quantitative survey of Finnish travelers' show how risk-prudent and risk-aversive tourists use specific types of information sources, i.e. sources provided particularly for the purposes of tourists. The same pattern is repeated when Cohen's (1972) typologies of tourist behavior was used as a mediating variable. In addition, the findings add to the perceived risk research discourse by showing how an identified set of risks significantly alters travel behavior, and how perceived destination specific risks affect the perceived safety image of a whole country. Finally, the empirical evidence implies that the external information sources used by the respondents may be categorized into public sources, tourism sources, friends and relatives, and governmental information; findings with strong managerial implications.

Keywords:

• Risk perception
• information search
• decision making
• travel
• tourism

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments, and Anna-Maria Honkaranta, MSc (econ.), who collected the data.