To Dine, or Not to Dine on a Cruise Ship in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Tripartite Approach towards an Understanding of Behavioral Intentions among Female Passengers

Aleksandar Radic,António Raposo,Jinkyung Jenny Kim,Heesup Han,Amr Al-Ansi,Sabrina Seeler,Michael Lück,Bee-Lia Chua

doi:10.3390/su13052516

Abstract

Given that cruise line companies are rushing to restart their operations with modified dining services, the aim of this research is to establish a conceptual framework that precisely outlines female passengers’ behavioral intentions towards dining on cruise ships in the time of the COVID-19 crisis. It does so by extending the theory of reasoned action (TRA) by including the social servicescape of the cruise ship dining experiencescape (stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) paradigm) and perceived health risk from COVID-19 (the prospect theory). The developed theoretical framework based on this tripartite approach has predictive power for intentions. Its effectiveness and comprehensiveness are also demonstrated. Despite the positive effect of the social servicescape on attitude and emotions and the positive attitude of female cruise travelers, the negative effect of the perceived health risk from COVID-19 appears to be the dominant factor that ultimately discourages the behavioral intentions of female cruise passengers towards dining on a cruise ship in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The present research provides a crucial guiding framework that helps cruise academics and operators to maximize existing and potential passengers’ favorable decisions and behaviors for cruise ship dining.

Highlights

As major cruise lines are gearing towards the restart of their operations, trial cruises with modified dining services and carefully managed physical distancing as a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Conditional Sailing Order [26], the intention of this paper is to offer an in-depth theoretical understanding of female passengers’ behavioral intentions
Social interactions in cruise ship dining rooms are motivated by empathy, the need for socialization and enjoyment of hedonic consumption
What perhaps is most intriguing about this finding is the evident positive attitude of female passengers to board the secluded world of a cruise ship and enjoy dynamic social interactions during hedonic consumption while escaping from the daily pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Introduction

Cruise tourism has often been celebrated as the fastest-growing segment within the global tourism industry [1]; the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 forever changed the landscape of the cruise industry. Predicted that 32 million passengers would take a cruise in 2020 [2], yet, due to the COVID19 pandemic, not even 600,000 passengers completed their cruises in 2020 [3]. From a worldwide fleet of 315 ocean-going cruise ships [4], on 1 January 2021, only 23 were in service [5]. As government lockdowns and global travel restrictions have halted the ocean cruise industry [6], major cruise line companies have been left without any Sustainability 2021, 13, 2516.

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