Customers’ Behavioural Immune System Responses to Pathogen Cues at Tourism and Hospitality Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed various obstacles and restrictions for the tourism and hospitality industry. This paper adopts the concept of the behavioural immune system to discuss tourism and hospitality customers\u27 potential behaviours during the pandemic and provide business strategies that can address these behaviours. The behavioural immune system is a motivational system that determines individuals\u27 behaviours to pathogen infection. First, this study introduces the mechanism of the behavioural immune system including environmental evaluation and aversive perception, aversive emotional and cognitive responses, and avoidance behaviours. It also provides examples in the guest service context to better portray the mechanism. Second, the study suggests specific measures for tourism and hospitality businesses that may help them to prevent the aversive and avoidance responses of customers triggered by their behavioural immune system during the pandemic. Then, the study integrates customers\u27 responses and businesses\u27 measures in a framework, which extends the literature on customers\u27 behaviour in the hospitality and tourism context. To the authors\u27 knowledge, this is the first time the concept of behavioural immune system is adopted to discuss customers\u27 behaviours towards tourism and hospitality services during a pandemic