Will Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Move Exhibition Visitors from On-Site to Virtual? Focusing on Exhibition Quarantine Service Quality and Switching Intention

Abstract

COVID-19 has shifted people’s activities from the real world to the virtual world in many fields, such as conferences, shopping, education, and more. In the field of MICE, however, exhibitions have been held steadily since the second half of 2020 in the form of on-site exhibitions. The exhibition organizers and related authorities have tried to attract exhibitors and visitors to the exhibition hall by providing exhibition quarantine services. Moreover, despite various perceived risks during the COVID-19 period, exhibition visitors continue to visit the exhibition. This study, therefore, paid attention to the psychological factors of visitors who consistently visit on-site exhibitions even during the pandemic. In addition to the perceived risks, this study tried to examine the quality of exhibition quarantine services and switching intention of visitors, and to analyze the relationships between them. A survey of 167 people who visited the camping exhibition and well-food exhibition held in June 2021 found that they would not visit the exhibition due to the functional and financial risk of the exhibition rather than the risk of the virus. On the other hand, it was found that visitors who felt the social risk of COVID-19 valued the quality of exhibition quarantine service. Furthermore, the study found that the quarantine service quality lowered switching intention. Therefore, the study suggests that exhibition organizers should think about ways to strengthen the most essential characteristics of on-site exhibitions along with appropriate quarantine measures to induce steady visits even during the pandemic.