Preference for utilitarian or hedonic value options during a pandemic crisis: The moderation effects of childhood socioeconomic status and sensation-seeking

Jungkeun Kim, Seongseop (Sam) Kim, Jihoon Jhang, Negin Ahmadi Saber Doust, Ricky Y.K. Chan, Frank Badu-Baiden

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This research investigated hospitality consumers’ relative preferences for utilitarian or hedonic value under COVID-19 pandemic conditions. A series of four experiments and one secondary data analysis showed that the salience of the infectious disease threat increased consumers’ preferences for hospitality options that provide relatively more utilitarian than hedonic value. Additionally, we identified two individual differences (i.e., childhood socioeconomic status (SES) & sensation-seeking) that moderated the effect of the infectious disease threat on the preferred hospitality consumption value. Specifically, the higher the childhood SES, the higher was the preference for the utilitarian value option, and the lower the level of sensation-seeking, the greater was the preference for the utilitarian value option. This research extends our understanding of the influence of the infectious disease threat on preference changes in hospitality decisions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103427
JournalInternational Journal of Hospitality Management
Volume110
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2023

Keywords

  • Childhood socioeconomic status (SES)
  • Consumption value
  • COVID-19
  • Crisis management
  • Sensation-seeking
  • Utilitarian and hedonic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
  • Strategy and Management

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