What triggers tourists’ anxiety? The differential impacts of crisis information source types in social media on tourists’ cross-border travel anxiety

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to reveal the triggering mechanism and boundary conditions of tourists’ cross-border travel anxiety (CBTA) from different crisis information sources. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM), this study constructs a theoretical formation path of tourists’ CBTA. Based on competence-based and moral-based crises, hypotheses were examined through three situational experiments, targeting Chinese and Malaysian potential tourists. Findings Organization-released crisis information triggers higher tourists’ CBTA than government ones, with perceived uncertainty mediating it. Crisis communication message appeals (CCMAs) (rational vs emotional) negatively moderate the above relationships. Rational CCMAs work for governmental crisis communication, while emotional CCMAs work for organizational ones. Practical implications This study proposes a heuristic cross-border tourism crisis information dissemination strategy for destination management organizations and highlights the advantages of CCMAs in preventing secondary crises. Originality/value This study reexamines the cause-and-effect and the intervention mechanisms of tourists’ reactions to crisis information, which expands the cross-border tourism crisis management research and the application of the HSM in such a context.