Maladaptive Perception, Protection Motivation and Health Protective Behavior: the Application of Protection Motivation Theory in Tourism Industry Amidst the Digital Revolution

Abstract

In the backdrop of the ongoing digital revolution, this study delves into the intricate connections among maladaptive perception, protection motivation (intention), and health protective behavior in the context of COVID-19. The data of 309 tourists residing in different cities of Pakistan through an online survey were collected by employing purposive sampling. These tourists were of various categories such as business and professional, holiday and leisure, tourists travelling to relatives and friends, and tourists travelling for study or shopping. Due to the predictive nature of the model, PLS-SEM was employed for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The results reveal that both a threat and coping appraisal influence the travellers’ protection motivation intentions, ultimately influencing their actual behaviour. This study also empirically confirms that behavioural intentions retain robust predictive power of travellers’ actions regarding their health and risk of COVID-19, and this health-related behaviour leads them to make travel or destination-related decisions. Additionally, this study also confirms that maladaptive perception has a negative association with travellers’ coping appraisal. Thus, tourists’ perception regarding health risk towards their destination does not play a significant part in traveller’s destination-related decisions, which further influence travellers’ health-defensive behaviour as well as trip quality during and after COVID-19. Hence, suggested that travelers fail to engross in preventive actions due to maladaptive perception in high-risk situations. This study signifies that the relation between appraisals and action strongly depends upon the protective intentions, while the moderating role of preventive behaviour can also influence the travellers’ motivation intention. This study also cannot gather data only from tourists of Pakistan. Future research may have responses from other countries and make comparisons. Implications elaborated on how travellers can be encouraged to shield themselves from health-related risks of COVID-19. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of travellers’ health-related behaviour. Thus, it is predicted from this study’s findings that it may comprehend the knowledge of health-protective behaviour adopted by travellers due to COVID-19. The PMT model combined with behavioural choice strategy has not been tested before to study the relationship between travellers’ maladaptive perception, protective behaviour, and COVID-19.