Real Bounce Forward: Experimental Evidence on Destination Crisis Marketing, Destination Trust, e-WOM and Global Expat’s Willingness to Travel during and after COVID-19

Abstract

The nexus of global tourism, disasters and sustainability have always been triggered by numerous crises, e.g., political unrest, wars, and pandemics. However, there is still fragmented research on destination crisis marketing, and its impact on willingness to travel remains largely unknown. To address this critical research gap, the present study used an experimental research design by framing destination crisis marketing campaigns (2 × 2 frames including DCM implemented versus DCM not implemented) and electronic word of mouth (2 × 2 frames including positive e-Wom versus negative e-Wom) to examine their impact on destination trust and global expat’s willingness to travel. Based on the experimental settings of global expats (N = 232; representing over 10 nationalities) with four framing groups (Group 1 to Group 4, configured in frames as ± DCM and ± e-Wom), the new evidence suggests that global expats who are provoked by positive crisis marketing campaigns and positive e-Wom (Group 4) have higher levels of destination trust than those who are exposed to either negative crisis marketing scenario and/or negative e-Wom (i.e., Group 1 to Group 3). The findings also revealed that global expat’s willingness to travel is significantly influenced by destination crisis marketing campaigns and e-Wom. Interestingly, for all framing groups (Group 1 to Group 4), the effects of destination crisis marketing and e-WOM on expat’s willingness to travel, was significantly mediated by destination trust. Utilizing prominent theories (i.e., signal theory, image repair theory and trust transfer theory), the study implications highlighted that crisis marketing and positive e-Wom could serve as the cornerstones for destinations to stay relevant, regenerate sustainable practices, as well as create new opportunities out of a crisis.