{"title":"The influence of fear on consumers' experiential consumption preferences during public health crises: Testing multiple mediation models","authors":"Yuan Yin, Hanxuan Zhao, Sihua Xu","doi":"10.1002/jtr.2706","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Previous research showed an association between fear during public health crises and altered consumption behavior, However, the impact of fear on experiential consumption preference remains largely unexplored. This study examined how fear induced by the public health crisis influences individuals' psychological states, cognitive processes, and experiential consumption preferences. A total of 451 respondents from diverse risk cities across China participated in online surveys. The results revealed that: (1) Although COVID-19 constrained many forms of consumption, fear paradoxically fostered a greater preference for experiential consumption; (2) Fear indirectly affected the preference for experiential consumption through the mediating roles of meaning in life and choice overload; (3) Fear prompted a heightened inclination towards searching for meaning. Notably, the presence of meaning served as the primary mediator in the impact of fear on experiential consumption preference. These findings provide valuable theoretical implications for understanding how fear affects experiential consumption during public health emergencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":51375,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Tourism Research","volume":"26 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Tourism Research","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jtr.2706","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Previous research showed an association between fear during public health crises and altered consumption behavior, However, the impact of fear on experiential consumption preference remains largely unexplored. This study examined how fear induced by the public health crisis influences individuals' psychological states, cognitive processes, and experiential consumption preferences. A total of 451 respondents from diverse risk cities across China participated in online surveys. The results revealed that: (1) Although COVID-19 constrained many forms of consumption, fear paradoxically fostered a greater preference for experiential consumption; (2) Fear indirectly affected the preference for experiential consumption through the mediating roles of meaning in life and choice overload; (3) Fear prompted a heightened inclination towards searching for meaning. Notably, the presence of meaning served as the primary mediator in the impact of fear on experiential consumption preference. These findings provide valuable theoretical implications for understanding how fear affects experiential consumption during public health emergencies.
期刊介绍:
International Journal of Tourism Research promotes and enhances research developments in the field of tourism. The journal provides an international platform for debate and dissemination of research findings whilst also facilitating the discussion of new research areas and techniques. IJTR continues to add a vibrant and exciting channel for those interested in tourism and hospitality research developments. The scope of the journal is international and welcomes research that makes original contributions to theories and methodologies. It continues to publish high quality research papers in any area of tourism, including empirical papers on tourism issues. The journal welcomes submissions based upon both primary research and reviews including papers in areas that may not directly be tourism based but concern a topic that is of interest to researchers in the field of tourism, such as economics, marketing, sociology and statistics. All papers are subject to strict double-blind (or triple-blind) peer review by the international research community.