Pandemic travel fear, travel intention, and self-protection intention of Chinese residents: an application of protection motivation theory

ABSTRACT This study examines the attitudes of Chinese residents toward pandemic travel fear, travel intention, and self-protection intention based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as the study framework. Compared to previous research in this area, we employed the full suite of PMT factors in this study. An online survey was used to collect the views of 560 Chinese residents in six major Chinese cities in 2022. The results demonstrated that the PMT model provides a useful framework for understanding pandemic travel fear. Although perceived severity, perceived vulnerability and perceived response cost have significant positive relations with pandemic travel fear, perceived reward has a significant negative influence on pandemic travel fear. However, perceived response efficacy and perceived self-efficacy do not have a significant relationship with pandemic travel fear. Indeed, pandemic travel fear has significant negative and positive impacts on travel intention and self-protection intention, respectively. Practical implications of the study are discussed.