Examining the impact of COVID-19 risk perception on tourist behavior: applying Health Belief Model

Purpose -The main objective of this study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 risk perception on tourist behavior by applying Health Belief Model(HBM) during the pandemic situations. Design, data, and methodology -The data was collected by simultaneously conducting the online and off-line survey methods to reflect the COVID-19 situations. Then, 489 usable samples were analyzed by using SPSS statistical package program and AMOS. Result -As a result of this study, it was revealed that COVID-19 risk perception had a significant impact on HBM variables except for perceived barriers. Especially, perceived severity and perceived susceptibility were found to be most affected by COVID-19 risk perception. Also, it was found out that travel avoidance intention was significantly influenced by HBM variables except for perceived susceptibility. In details, while other variables(perceived severity, cues to actions, perceived benefits and self-efficacy) had a positive impact on travel avoid ance intention, it was indicated that only perceived barriers had a negative impact on it. Conclusions -Based on the results, academic and practical implications of these findings were discussed.