The impact of the COVID-19 threat on the preference for high versus low quality/price options

The present research investigates how the threat of COVID-19 affects consumers’ choices among hospitality/travel options of varying levels of quality and price. Drawing on compensatory consumption theory, we predicted that the virus’s prominence would increase consumers’ preference for more expensive options in a choice set. Five empirical studies and one secondary data analysis investigated consumers’ choice among various business and budget hotels. The results consistently showed that consumers increase their safety-seeking under a high threat of COVID-19 and prefer a more expensive hotel option. To enhance the study’s internal validity, we provide converging evidence by either measuring (studies 1, 2, 3, and 5) or manipulating the threat of COVID-19 (study 4). We also provide the secondary data analysis with words searched in Google Trends (study 6). Finally, we discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.