Understanding post-pandemic travel intention toward rural destinations by expanding the theory of planned behavior (TPB)

Abstract

This research intends to understand post-pandemic travel intention toward rural areas by extending the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Social media use (SMU) and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) have been incorporated into the original TPB model as additional constructs to increase its predictive power. To date, no study has measured post-pandemic travel intention in the Indian context utilizing a modified model of TPB taking the studied variables; thus, this study fills this void. A sample of 305 respondents was collected on a convenience basis via an online questionnaire. The targeted population of this study were the Indian social media users who follow the web pages of travel agencies. “SPSS 20” and “AMOS 22.0” were used for the statistical analysis. The results reveal that attitude (AT), subjective norm (SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC), social media usage (SMU) and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) all have a beneficial impact on post-pandemic travel intention toward rural destinations. These factors explained approximately 53% (R2 = 0.529) of the variance in the post-pandemic travel intention toward rural destinations. A number of theoretical and managerial ramifications can be deduced from the findings of this study. The novelty of this research lies in its integration of SMU and eWOM into the original TPB framework to assess individuals’ post-pandemic travel intentions toward rural destinations.