Are Serbian tourists worried? The effect of psychological factors on tourists’ behavior based on the perceived risk

Abstract

Recent natural hazards (floods and wildfires) which hit some of the most visited Greek tourist destinations during the summer season 2018 are threatening to decrease the number of tourist visits in the affected regions. As these regions, being namely Chalkidiki, Olympic Riviera and regions surrounding Athens and Thessaloniki, are the most popular summer destinations for Serbian tourists, it is interesting to examine how natural hazards that occurred there influence tourist behavior based on the perceived risk. The study aims to explore the role of psychological factors such as different personality traits and tourism worries on the tourist behavior based on the perceived risk of affected destinations. Moreover, the assumption was that tourism worrieswill mediate the relationship between analyzed personality traits and tourist behavior based on the perceived risk. Although previous studies investigated the effect of different psychological factors on tourist behavior based on the perceived risk, this is the first study to explore the interaction of different psychological factors including tourism worries, which previously were not analyzed in this context. Besides theoretical contribution, practical implications are also further discussed in the paper within the realm of their use for destination managers.

What are the Factors affecting Tourist Behavior based on the Perception of Risk? Romanian and Serbian Tourists’ Perspective in the Aftermath of the recent Floods and Wildfires in Greece

“…Pizam et al [47] also suggested that risky behavior and sensation-seeking are positively correlated. Contrary to these findings, the study by Kovačić et al [44] have found no significantrelationshipbetweensensation-seekingandtourists'behaviorbased on the perceived travel risk. Thus, although sensation-seeking is related to risk perception and intention to visit risky destination in the majority of previous studies, Kapuściński and Richards [49] claim that relationship between sensation-seeking and risk perception in tourism is still underexplored area, so further research should help in better understanding of these concepts.…”

“…Previous research on the relationship between sociodemographics and personality has been rare concerning tourist behavior in the face of the perceived risk, whereas a focus on the moderating role of nationality has not been explored yet. Thus, the current study aims at contributing to a better understanding of such complex relationships while answering the call opened by Kovačić et al [44] for additional research needed on this topic.…”

“…The current study represents the extension of the study by Kovačić et al [44] aimed to test whether risk perception and influence of tourist personality on risk perception and related behavior depends on tourists' nationality. For this purpose, Romanian and Serbian tourists, as some of the most dominant tourists' groups visiting Greece, were compared.…”

“…Tourist personality is largely related not only to the way tourists perceive the risk but also the way they behave and respond to it [44][45][46][47][48][49]. Tourists' risk-seeking and novelty-seeking also inspired some of the earliest tourist typologies such as those of Cohen [45] and Plog [50].…”

“…Those studies revealed that individuals who are confident, extroverted, and adventurous tend to show greater intention to engage in risk. The study by Kovačić et al [44] explored the role of personality traits and tourism worries on the tourist behavior based on the perceived risk of affected destinations, on the case study of natural hazards in Greece. The mentioned study revealed that Novelty-seeking negatively affects Courageous behavior, Extraversion and Agreeableness positively affect Conscious behavior, while Conscientiousness positively affects Cautious behavior.…”