Cyber-Bystanders’ Reactions Toward Tourism Companies’ Prejudice Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-9-2021

Publication Title

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Volume

49

First page number:

74

Last page number:

83

Abstract

Prejudice against tourists from the epidemic areas or those infected during the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted much attention. While many studies examined the influence of this prejudice on tourists themselves, little research has been conducted to identify cyber-bystanders’ reactions to tourism companies' prejudice practice. This study aims to fill this gap by revealing the process of how cyber-bystanders identify, evaluate, and respond online to prejudice practice in the context of the tourism industry. The study developed a conceptual model to examine the influential factors and their internal relationship of cyber-bystanders’ reactions. A multistage model was proposed based on the social comparison theory. An online survey was conducted in mainland China, and 558 useable questionnaires were collected. The three-process model was estimated using the Bootstrap mediation test and hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicate that cyber-bystanders’ prejudice recognizing process could impact their reactions through the influence of their evaluation behaviors. Meanwhile, the collective sentiment on social media has a moderating effect on the relationship between cyber-bystanders’ evaluating process and their reactions to prejudice practice. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Keywords

Bystander intervention model; COVID-19; Cyber-bystander; Prejudice practice; Tourism discrimination

Disciplines

Tourism

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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