The effects of health and security perceptions of domestic tourists on their purchasing behavior

Tourists primarily prefer safe options that maintain their health and minimise the risk of physical and psychological harm, when making holiday and travel purchase decisions. Thus, it can be argued that the well-being and safety of tourists are among the determinants that influence their purchasing decision-making. This research aims to examine the impact of health and security perceptions on the purchasing behaviour of domestic tourists. To this end, using a questionnaire developed after pursuing a literature research was used to gather data online from domestic tourists accommodating Muğla and Antalya destinations during July and August 2022. 832 questionnaires were considered appropriate for analysis based on the responses provided by the domestic tourists who took part in the research. Data obtained was analysed using the social science analysis program, SPSS 22. The results of the research revealed that participants' significance of their health, hygiene, cleanliness, and risk perception levels for their travels varied based on their demographic characteristics. Regarding health perception, there was no alteration according to household income. It is also among the results obtained that participants with chronic illnesses prioritize their health more than those without such conditions and individuals who have experienced an epidemic in the past attach less importance to their health. The security perception has been found to vary according to demographic characteristic as well. The presence of chronic illness has little effect on this perception, while a past epidemic disease has a significant impact on it. It has been determined that domestic tourists' health and security perception are influential at every stage of the decision-making process. Travel risk perception, one of the health perception dimensions, has been found to be ineffective in holiday decision-making and post- purchase behaviours, and general security and terrorist act components from the security perception dimensions have been determined to be inefficient in the information-seeking phase.