Are We Ready for the Next Crisis? Threat Versus Coping: The Role of Knowledge Valence and Government Trust in Travel Intentions Across Regulatory Contexts

ABSTRACT

This study examines how crisis‐related knowledge, perceived risk, and government trust jointly shape travel intentions across distinct regulatory regimes. Drawing on Protection Motivation Theory and the Cognitive Mediation Model, the study distinguishes between threat‐oriented pandemic knowledge and coping‐oriented travel health knowledge to explain divergent behavioral responses during prolonged crisis conditions. Cross‐sectional survey data were collected via online panels in Hong Kong ( N  = 365), Canada ( N  = 415), and the UK ( N  = 2274). The three regions represented distinct regulatory approaches to pandemic governance, including elimination, hybrid, and mitigation strategies. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects of perceived risk, knowledge types, and government trust on domestic and international travel intentions across regulatory contexts. Perceived risk consistently reduced travel intentions across all jurisdictions, with stronger effects observed for international travel decisions. Travel health knowledge was associated with travel intentions through coping appraisal mechanisms, whereas pandemic knowledge demonstrated context‐dependent effects, suppressing intentions in high‐transmission environments while exhibiting limited influence under elimination‐based governance regions. Government trust emerged as a stable positive predictor across contexts, functioning as an external coping resource that reduced psychological barriers associated with crisis uncertainty. This study advances crisis management literature by demonstrating that the behavioral effects of crisis information depend on informational valence rather than information quantity alone. By distinguishing between threat‐oriented and coping‐oriented knowledge, the study reconciles inconsistent findings in prior crisis response research. The comparative design further establishes how regulatory regimes condition the relative influence of knowledge and government trust on behavioral adaptation during prolonged societal crises.