Restaurant preventive behaviors and the role of media during a pandemic

• Published in: International journal of hospitality management Vol. 95; p. 102906
• Main Authors: Sung, Yung-Kun, Hu, Hsin-Hui “Sunny”, King, Brian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2021
• Subjects: Consumer behavior; COVID-19; Fear; Media attention; Media exposure; Restaurant; Risk perception; COVID-19; Fear; Restaurant; Consumer behavior; Media attention; Risk perception; Media exposure
• ISSN: 0278-4319; 1873-4693
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.102906

•Examining media exposure and attention predict COVID-19 preventive behaviors.•Media, risk communication, and crisis management theories were integrated.•COVID-19 fears and risks are affected more by media attention than by exposure.•Exposure and attention cause the joint affective and cognitive organism.•Restaurant operations would benefit from appropriate media strategies. This study explores how the preventive behaviors of restaurant customers towards COVID-19 are shaped by exposure and attention to media coverage, thereby connecting the issues of community anxieties and business resilience during crises. Ways in which media exposure and attention predict COVID-19 preventive behaviors were examined, as these relate to emotional fear responses and cognitive risk perceptions. An online survey was administered in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic to test the proposed research framework. A total of 366 responses were collected using convenience sampling, and structural equation modeling was deployed to examine the hypothesized relationships. Results indicate that consumer fears and risk perceptions were positively influenced by media coverage of COVID-19. Moreover, fear positively affected individual risk perceptions, and risk perception positively influenced restaurant preventive behaviors. Risk perception was also identified as a mediator between a) media exposure and restaurant preventive behaviors and b) media attention and restaurant preventive behaviors.