The Role of Perceived Quality on High-Speed Railway Tourists’ Behavioral Intention: An Application of the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

Zhiqiang Hou, Lena Jingen Liang, Bo Meng and HwanSuk Chris Choi
Additional contact information
Zhiqiang Hou: College of Tourism, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou 362021, China
Lena Jingen Liang: School of Hospitality, Food & Tourism Management, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
Bo Meng: Department of Tourism Management, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
HwanSuk Chris Choi: School of Hospitality, Food & Tourism Management, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-15

Abstract: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines worldwide have enforced strict travel restrictions, driving passengers to seek alternative transportations such as High-Speed Railway (HSR). Nevertheless, the current understanding of HSR travelers’ behavior is scarce. Moreover, despite the extensive application of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain and predict patrons and tourists’ behavior in the tourism and hospitality context, little research has employed this theory to examine HSR travelers’ processes in making travelling decisions. This study developed a research model by integrating perceived quality into the TPB and examined the relation between HSR passengers’ service quality and intention to travel in the future and the mediating effect of TPB attributes. It is found that perceived train service quality and perceived travel quality have a significant influence on the TPB attributes, which further influence HSR travelers’ travel intention. This study contributes practical implications to destinations and the travel industry that they might attract visitors by marketing the corresponding HSR train service quality and travel experience quality. This also provides recovery guidelines for the transportation and travel industry after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: theory of planned behavior; high-speed railway; perceived quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12386/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12386/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12386-:d:675634

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().