The impact of the perception of risk on international travellers

TLDR

The study investigates how perceived risk influences international travel decisions and whether risk perceptions differ across Hofstede uncertainty avoidance clusters. The authors surveyed 1,180 international travelers in Hong Kong during fall 2003. Most travelers adjust plans when destinations are perceived as risky, while a minority do not; sensitivity varies by continent and national culture, underscoring significant cross‑cultural differences in risk perception. © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract The primary objective of this paper is twofold: (i) to investigate the impact of perceived risk on the tendency to travel internationally; and (ii) to explore if there is any difference in the perception of risky places among three clusters segmented based on the Hofstede's uncertainty avoidance index. The sample population of the study consists of 1180 international travellers visiting Hong Kong in the fall of 2003. The research findings show that the majority of travellers are more likely to change their travel plans to a destination that has elevated risk while the minority reports they are more unlikely. These findings suggest that international travellers appear to be sensitive towards the occurrence of any type of risk in their evoked destinations. Differences were also observed from one continent to another in terms of the influence of perceived risks. The final note is that travellers from different national cultures may have varying degrees of the perceived risk. Implications both for theory and practitioners are also discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.