Tourists’ Compliance With Public Policy and Government Trust: An Application of Protection Motivation Theory

Based on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), this study investigates the impact of risk perception (threat appraisal and coping appraisal) and trust in the destination government on tourists’ self-protective behavior. Survey data from 450 international tourists from the United States were collected through mTurk and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SmartPLS 3.0. The results suggest that tourists’ self-protective behavior is directly influenced by their perception of threats and the appraisal of coping mechanisms, but not by trust in the destination government. However, trust in the destination government has an indirect effect on self-protective behavior mediated by threat appraisal and coping appraisal. Thus, tourism stakeholders must focus on building and maintaining trust in government to encourage compliance and self-protective behavior of tourists. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are further discussed.