Search Results (4)

The metaverse promises an unimaginable future for digital travelers by enabling them to gain unique experiences (e.g., space travel) that would otherwise be impossible in non-virtual reality. Moreover, COVID-19 travel anxiety has triggered growing interest in virtual environments (e.g., metaverse travel) in the aftermath of the pandemic. The cost-conscious and tech-savvy behavior of travelers has been resurrected in the ‘new normal’; however, the fear of missing out (FOMO) is now dictating travelers’ choices for newness, immersive and rewarding travel experiences. To address these emerging trends, promising new technologies, and untested relationships, the present study explored the effects of COVID-19 travel anxiety on the readiness for metaverse space travel. In addition, the moderating influence of tech savviness and travel FOMO was tested on this relationship. Drawing on data of international expats (N = 386) in UAE, the finding based on structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that the international expat’s readiness for metaverse space travel is positively influenced by their COVID-19 travel anxiety. Moreover, expats with high tendencies of travel FOMO and tech savviness will experience a stronger impact of COVID-19 travel anxiety on their readiness for metaverse space travel. These novel findings guided by prominent theories (e.g., self-determination, SOR, and protection motivation) offer new insights for policy makers and practitioners to strategically achieve digital-tourism transformation and sustainability through emerging and immersive metaverse technologies. Full article

The rebirth of global tourism with a massive rebound is anticipated due to an emerging touristic behavior coined as vaxication (i.e., post-vaccination travel). Despite the ongoing fatigue triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, travelers’ fear of missing out (FOMO), and destination crisis marketing (DCM) can further accelerate travelers’ momentum towards vaxication. To address this critical knowledge gap in COVID-19 tourism, the present study aimed to examine the effect of pandemic fatigue on vaxication intention for the greatest of all trips (GOAT) under the moderating influence of travel FOMO and destination crisis marketing. Drawing on data of international expatriates in the United Arab Emirates (N = 356) and using covariance-based structural equation modeling with Mplus, the findings provide new evidence supporting a positive impact of international expat’s pandemic fatigue on vaxication intention for GOAT. Interestingly, this relationship is significantly reinforced by the international expat’s travel FOMO as well as tourism destinations switching gears from ‘managing crisis’ to ‘marketing crisis’. Based on prominent theories (i.e., theory of planned behavior, cognitive load theory, and protection motivation theory) and newly developed scales (i.e., travel FOMO and destination crisis marketing), the study implications are directed towards an outpacing trajectory of global tourism return prompted by pandemic fatigue, travel FOMO, destination crisis marketing, and vaxication intention for the greatest of all trips. Full article

The majority of research on the fear of missing out (FOMO) has focused on understanding how social media posts about attractive unattended experiences taking place in the physical world (e.g., a friend’s vacation) influence individuals’ affective states. With quarantine measures in place, and in the absence of travel and party photos on social media, do individuals feel they are missing out on enjoyable experiences? The current work shows that FOMO has not disappeared during the pandemic, even when socially distancing at home, but has been replaced by feelings towards new online activities (e.g., online concerts, virtual gatherings). As a consequence, we find that FOMO threatens well-being by causing important psychological and health issues, such as sleep deprivation, loss of focus, declined productivity, and finding relief in knowing that others have difficulty keeping up with abundant digital content. Importantly, we find these consequential effects both during the initial (May 2020) and late stages (December 2020) of the pandemic. With excessive Internet use and virtual FOMO likely to be a continuing reality of life, questions remain as to how one can refrain from its negative effects and stay healthy during the pandemic and in the post-pandemic era. We discuss remedies and suggest new research avenues that may help elevate the negative consequences of FOMO on well-being. Full article

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic and exerted a profound physiological and mental impact on the public. Due to anxiety from being bombarded by information from the news and social media, people may constantly read and repost, with a fear of missing out (FOMO), information about COVID-19 on social media. So far, there has been little research on COVID-19 FOMO. We therefore compiled the COVID-19 information fear of missing out scale (CIFS) and administered it to 1178 adults in Taiwan to identify the possible factors influencing CIFS scores. We demonstrated that the CIFS had good reliability, factor validity, and criterion validity. With regard to demographic variables, we found that gender, marital status, travel time to the nearest hospital, and educational background influenced CIFS scores. In contrast, the participant age and whether he or she lived in an urban area did not affect the CIFS scores. With regard to social media usage, social media usage time (r = 0.025) and the numbers of COVID-19-related posts read on social media (r = 0.117) or instant messaging (r = 0.169) were not highly correlated with CIFS scores. Rather, CIFS scores were found to be significantly correlated to the frequency of reposting COVID-19-related information on social media (r = 0.497) and on instant messaging (r = 0.447). These results indicate that CIFS scores are closely associated not with passive browsing on social media but with the frequency at which an individual actively reposts information. In other words, what creates CIF is not an overabundance of information (i.e., an infodemic) but the active reposting and interpretation of information. Individual autonomy for interpretation of the received information and self-determination about reposting are key factors for COVID-19 information FOMO. When facing the COVID-19-related news on social media, it is the active information-related FOMO, not the passive infodemic, that influences our social media usage. Full article