Are we behaviorally immune to COVID-19 through robots?

Xiling Xiong, IpKin Anthony Wong and Fiona X. Yang

Annals of Tourism Research, 2021, vol. 91, issue C

Abstract: In the context of the health risks of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourists' choices have shifted to reflect a subconscious psychological mechanism – the behavioral immune system – that facilitates human organisms to better identify plausible threats to ones' health through environment cues. This research draws upon this theoretical lens to assess tourists' pre-trip hotel evaluation in two 2 × 2 between-subject experiments. Experiment 1 (robot vs. human) tested the service provider's effect on hotel selection evaluation through the mediation of sense of control and the moderation of pandemic risk. Experiment 2 examined this chain of relationship through the moderation of hotel type. This research contributes to the literature by underscoring the pathogen-avoidance mechanism in tourist evaluation and the peril of robotization.

Keywords: Robot; Behavioral immune system; Hotel evaluation; COVID (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:91:y:2021:i:c:s0160738321001900

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2021.103312

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