How do air quality issues caused by particulate matter affect consumers’ emotional response to tourism destinations and willingness to visit?

Abstract

This study identifies the perceived risk factors of particulate matter (PM) and the effect of the perceived risk factors of PM on the relationship between tourists’ trust and aspiration regarding the tourist destination, the customer return on investment, and the willingness to visit a tourism destination. Accordingly, this study discussed the severity of PM, which plays a key role in causing air quality issues, and classified the factors for perceived risk of PM into physical, psychological, financial, functional, and time risks to verify its effect on consumers’ emotional response and willingness to visit. Data collection for empirical analysis took place in April 2021 for two weeks. A total of 285 significant data points were obtained on tourists with travel experience in the past year. The demographic characteristics were confirmed using SPSS 22.0 (IBM, New York, NY, USA) and AMOS 22.0 (IBM, New York, NY, USA), and the measurement and structural models were verified through a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, respectively. The empirical analysis showed that the perceived risk of PM has a negative effect on trust in the tourism destination and desire for it, and the behavioral intention of customers. Furthermore, alternative attractiveness was found to play a significant moderating role. The results of this study proved the negative effect of PMs on tourism destinations and provided implications and insights to present a meaningful strategy for minimizing PMs’ perceived risk.