Peer Reviewed

Customer perceptions about the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Type of paper: Research Article

Authors

Daria-Roxana Theodoru

Corresponding Author

Affiliation: Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania

Email: dariatheodoru@gmail.com

Andreea Fortuna Șchiopu

Affiliation: Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania

Email: andreea.schiopu@com.ase.ro

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6524-0190

Published:December 15, 2022

How to Cite

Theodoru, D.-R. & Șchiopu, A. F. (2022). Customer perceptions about the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 Pandemic. CACTUS Tourism Journal, 26 (1). 10.24818/CTS/4/2022/2.01

Based on the official APA guide. Review the full set of examples.

© 2022 The Author(s);

Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Abstract

How did hospitality customers perceive the experience of going out during the global COVID-19 pandemic? What concerns did they have about hospitality providers? The purpose of this paper was to clarify how consumers perceived the pandemic and whether or not people feared infection when dining out. The firs purpose was to determine how many people went out during the pandemic, and the second aim was to determine how they perceived the performance of the hospitality industry. To measure their perceptions, we proposed several variables: psychological well-being, expected positive emotions, expected negative emotions, desire to avoid, and customer satisfaction. The main objective was to investigate the correlation between the selected variables. For the study, a questionnaire was distributed to different target groups: Adolescents, adults, and middle-aged people. It was found that the population of Bucharest felt a need to socialize and go out during the pandemic rather than a reluctance to do so. This study highlights the importance of anticipated perceptions and how they influence consumers' final perceptions.

Keywords

anticipated positive and negative emotions, mental comfort, desire for avoidance, customer satisfaction, hospitality

JEL Classification

L83

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