The impact of social distancing on tourists’ preferences for anthropomorphism

Social distancing is an effective way to reduce infection risk during pandemics, such as COVID-19. It is important for the tourism industry to understand the effect of social distancing on tourist behavior to better adapt to this emerging environment. This study investigates the role of social distancing in tourists’ preferences for anthropomorphism. Based on three experimental studies, this study found that tourists tend to prefer anthropomorphism more under conditions of social distancing (vs. nonsocial distancing). This effect was induced by the higher perceived warmth of anthropomorphism when one had to practice social distancing. Such effects are only significant among tourists with higher levels of interdependent self-construal. This study makes significant theoretical contributions and provides important practical implications for tourism marketing and service design during pandemic and epidemic crises.