The Determinants of Consumer Intentions to Participate in High Co-Creation Tourism Activities During and After COVID-19–Model Inventory<\/strong> is an empirical psychometric instrument developed by Ainhize Eletxigerra, Ana Maria Caldeira, and Elisabeth Kastenholz (2023)<\/a>. Built upon a behavioral cost-benefit approach<\/a> and grounded in the transactional paradigm of perceived risk theory<\/a>, the scale operationalizes the multi-faceted determinants that govern tourists’ decision-making processes regarding high co-creation tourism activities (HCCTA). The instrument was validated within the experiential sector of wine tourism across Iberian adult populations (Spain and Portugal), evaluating consumer intentions across two distinct epidemiological temporalities: during the active persistence of the pandemic and following its prospective eradication.<\/p>\n The inventory captures an intricate structural system consisting of first-order constructs and a reflective-reflective second-order hierarchical construct. The evaluated dimensions encompass the physical activity setting, generalized fear of COVID-19, perceived physical risk (modeled as a higher-order construct composed of perceived susceptibility and perceived severity), emotional risk, information risk, financial risk, expected enjoyment (representing the core perceived benefit), and bifurcated behavioral intentions (intention to participate during COVID-19 vs. intention to participate after eradication). The primary psychometric battery comprises a 33-item inventory assessed via a standardized 7-point Likert-type response scale ranging from 1 (“Totally disagree”) to 7 (“Totally agree”). Structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM<\/a>) confirmed robust psychometric properties: all standardized factor loadings exceeded 0.70, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values exceeded 0.50, and both Composite Reliability (CR<\/var>) and Dijkstra-Henseler’s rho (\u03c1A<\/sub><\/var>) surpassed the 0.70 threshold. Discriminant validity was rigorously established via the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT.85<\/sub>). This comprehensive scale provides a definitive framework for examining risk-benefit negotiations in interactive, immersive service environments during epidemiological disruptions.<\/p>\n Cost-Benefit Approach, Emotional Risk, Expected Enjoyment, Fear of COVID-19, Financial Risk, Information Risk, Intention to Participate, Perceived Physical Risk, Value Co-Creation, Wine Tourism Context<\/p>\n The measurement model was conceived, developed, and validated by an international research team specializing in tourism marketing, spatial dynamics, and consumer psychology:<\/p>\n The primary purpose of the Determinants of Consumer Intentions to Participate in High Co-Creation Tourism Activities During and After COVID-19–Model Inventory is to decipher the socio-cognitive mechanisms that dictate human participation in intensive, face-to-face experiential services under health-related vulnerabilities. Co-creation activities\u2014defined as immersive interactions where tourists actively collaborate with service providers, local hosts, or fellow travelers to co-produce their experiences\u2014represent the pinnacle of modern experiential tourism, prominently observed in sectors like enotourism (wine harvesting, stomping, collaborative blending workshops, cellar tours).<\/p>\n However, high co-creation tourism activities (HCCTA) inherently require physical proximity, sustained interpersonal engagement, shared physical touchpoints, and collective bodily presence. In the wake of airborne respiratory pandemics such as COVID-19, these fundamental characteristics transform from sources of sensory engagement into acute vectors of perceived biophysical and emotional threat. Prior to this instrument, behavioral research largely evaluated travel intentions through generic crisis models that failed to isolate the paradox of participatory co-creation: namely, that the very interactive mechanisms that generate superior hedonic benefits simultaneously amplify multidimensional customer perceived risks.<\/p>\n This measurement model fulfills critical theoretical and practical functions:<\/p>\n The scale models consumer decision-making as a multi-domain psychological construct centered on cognitive appraisal, affective response, and risk-benefit reconciliation. The model organizes its latent dimensions into three major psychological subsystems: risk appraisals (costs), affective hedonic evaluations (benefits), and behavioral commitments (intentions).<\/p>\n The scale synthesizes classical consumer perceived risk theory with health-belief constructs, classifying perceived risk into distinct perceptual channels:<\/p>\n The conceptual foundation of the model integrates three seminal theoretical traditions: the Cost-Benefit Paradigm of consumer decision-making, Protection Motivation Theory (PMT)<\/a>, and the Service-Dominant (S-D) Logic of Value Co-Creation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Exogenous Pre-conditions:<\/strong> Physical Activity Setting (Outdoor Context) & Baseline Fear of COVID-19<\/p>\n Perceived Costs (Sacrifices):<\/strong> Physical Risk [Susceptibility + Severity] + Emotional Risk + Information Risk + Financial Risk<\/p>\n Perceived Benefits:<\/strong> Expected Enjoyment (Fun, Excitement, Delight, Pleasure)<\/p>\n Outcome Manifestations:<\/strong> ⇒ Intention During COVID-19 vs. Intention After COVID-19 Eradication<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Classical microeconomic and behavioral decision paradigms posit that consumers act as boundedly rational decision-makers who evaluate alternatives by weighing perceived gains against expected sacrifices. Within service environments, perceived value emerges from the net balance between gross utility and perceived risk. When risks\u2014conceptualized as multi-dimensional subjective losses\u2014exceed the utility derived from expected enjoyment, avoidance behavior occurs. Eletxigerra, Caldeira, and Kastenholz (2023) translated this framework into epidemiological consumer behavior: while co-creation offers elevated hedonic value (enjoyment), the health crisis introduces severe physical, psychological, operational, and financial costs that alter the equilibrium of consumer intentions.<\/p>\n Originally formulated by R. W. Rogers (1975)<\/a> and expanded by Kim Witte (1996)<\/a> via the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), threat appraisal operates as an essential cognitive gateway. According to PMT, individuals process environmental threats by evaluating two primary parameters: perceived susceptibility (the subjective vulnerability of contracting an affliction) and perceived severity (the seriousness of the affliction’s ramifications). In the HCCTA model, physical risk is structured hierarchically through this PMT architecture, positing that physical health anxiety is an interactive composite of how easily one might contract SARS-CoV-2 in an interactive setting and how devastating that infection would be to their physiological well-being.<\/p>\n Advanced by Vargo and Lusch (2004, 2008)<\/a>, S-D Logic posits that value is not merely embedded in manufactured outputs delivered to passive consumers, but is fundamentally co-created through reciprocal, relational, and collaborative actions between beneficiaries and service systems. In wine tourism, high co-creation activities (e.g., harvesting grapes with local vintners, manual pressing, participating in guided cellar tastings) generate intense, non-replicable hedonic experiences. However, S-D logic during a pandemic faces a behavioral barrier: because high value co-creation demands close physical proximity, shared physical tools, and extensive interpersonal socialization, the co-creative environment paradoxically functions as an incubator for risk contagion, requiring explicit cognitive trade-offs before behavioral commitment takes place.<\/p>\n The psychometric validity of the Determinants of Consumer Intentions to Participate in High Co-Creation Tourism Activities During and After COVID-19–Model was rigorously evaluated using experimental scenario methodologies and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM<\/a>) in accordance with the established psychometric protocols of Hair et al. (2022)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Convergent validity evaluates the extent to which indicator variables accurately reflect their designated latent construct. In the measurement model evaluation:<\/p>\n Discriminant validity\u2014the empirical verification that constructs within the structural network are distinct from one another\u2014was evaluated using conservative, contemporary criteria:<\/p>\n To establish the hierarchical structure of Physical Risk, the authors modeled it as a reflective-reflective second-order construct driven by perceived susceptibility and perceived severity. Evaluation of this higher-order structure confirmed that both sub-dimensions loaded significantly on physical risk (p<\/var> < 0.001). Furthermore, potential multicollinearity<\/a> among the constituent dimensions was ruled out: all Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) values fell substantially below the conservative psychometric threshold of 3.0 (Hair et al., 2022), confirming that susceptibility and severity provide independent, non-redundant variance to the higher-order physical risk construct<\/span>.<\/p>\n The scale exhibits robust internal consistency across all latent dimensions. Rather than relying solely on traditional Cronbach’s alpha coefficients\u2014which can underestimate internal consistency in structural equation modeling due to assuming equal item weightings\u2014the instrument was evaluated using advanced contemporary reliability metrics.<\/p>\n The factor architecture of the inventory was examined through a two-stage structural equation modeling framework that accommodated the structural complexity of first-order latent variables and higher-order hierarchical dimensions.<\/p>\n During the first analytical stage, confirmatory structural modeling evaluated the individual item-to-construct allocations across the twelve primary variables: Physical activity setting (contextual anchor), generalized Fear of COVID-19, Perceived Susceptibility, Perceived Severity, Emotional Risk, Information Risk, Financial Risk, Expected Enjoyment, Intention to Participate During COVID-19, and Intention to Participate After COVID-19 Eradication. Confirmatory testing substantiated that each individual factor demonstrated distinct eigenvalue separation and unifactorial cohesion without cross-loadings exceeding acceptable bounds.<\/p>\nKeywords<\/h2>\n
Authors<\/h2>\n
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ainhize.eletxigerra@ehu.eus<\/code>.<\/li>\nanacaldeira@uc.pt<\/code>.<\/li>\nelisabethk@ua.pt<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nPurpose<\/h2>\n
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Psychological Construct<\/h2>\n
1. Environmental Context and Affective Predispositions<\/h3>\n
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2. Multidimensional Perceived Risk Architecture (Costs)<\/h3>\n
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3. Perceived Hedonic Benefit and Behavioral Intentions<\/h3>\n
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Theoretical Framework<\/h2>\n
Structural Framework Architecture<\/h4>\n
1. The Cost-Benefit Paradigm<\/h3>\n
2. Protection Motivation Theory and Health Belief Dimensions<\/h3>\n
3. Service-Dominant Logic and Value Co-Creation<\/h3>\n
Validity<\/h2>\n
Convergent Validity<\/h3>\n
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Discriminant Validity<\/h3>\n
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Second-Order Construct Validation<\/h3>\n
Reliability<\/h2>\n
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Factor Analysis<\/h2>\n
First-Order Measurement Model<\/h3>\n