Elsevier

Tourism Management

Volume 90, June 2022, 104468
Tourism Management

Effectiveness of message framing in changing COVID-19 vaccination intentions: Moderating role of travel desire

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104468Get rights and content

Abstract

This research examines the effectiveness of message framing, message appeal and information content in changing respondents' COVID-19 vaccination intentions through influencing their vaccine risk perceptions. Furthermore, the moderating effect of travel desire on the relationship between vaccine risk perceptions and changing vaccination intentions is examined. In doing so, two rounds of data that were collected from the same respondents. The first survey recorded respondents' vaccination intentions, travel desire and socio demographics. A follow up survey tested cause-and-effect relationships on the proposed relationships using a 2 (message frame: gain, loss) x 2 (message appeal: rational, emotional) ×2 (information content: subjective, objective) between-subjects online experimental design. Findings suggest that loss-framed messages are more effective than gain-framed and emotional-rational messages in reducing risk perceptions and, thus, changing vaccination intentions. Travel desire is found to moderate the effect of vaccine risk perception on vaccination intentions by weakening the negative effect of vaccine risk perception on vaccination intention. Findings show the importance of travel desire along with message framing and message appeal on changing individuals’ COVID-19 vaccination intentions in public health communications.

Keywords

Message frame
Message appeal
COVID-19 vaccination intention
Perceived vaccine risk
Travel desire

Cited by (0)

Dogan Gursoy, Ph.D., is the Taco Bell Distinguished Professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management at Washington State University, USA. His research interest focuses on services management, hospitality and tourism marketing, tourist behavior, travelers' information search behavior, community support for tourism development, cross-cultural studies, consumer behavior, involvement, generational leadership and consumers acceptance of artificially intelligent device use in service delivery.

Yuksel Ekinci (PhD) is Professor of Marketing at the University of Portsmouth. His research interest includes destination branding and Consumer-Based Brand Equity. His articles are published in the ANNALS of Tourism Research, the Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Analysis, the Journal of Business Research, the European Journal of Marketing, and others. Yuksel is an associate editor of the International Journal of Market Research and editorial board member of several tourism and marketing journals.

Ali Selcuk Can (PhD) is a Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Portsmouth, U.K. His research interests lie primarily in the areas of destination branding and marketing communications. His research has been published in the Journal of Advertising, The Service Industries Journal, and Annals of Tourism Research.

Jessica Murray is a PhD student in the School of Hospitality Business Management at Washington State University, USA. Her research interest focuses on food & beverage and services management, hospitality.

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