“I Am Here to Fly, but Better Get the Environment Right!” Passenger Response to Airport Servicescape

This study deploys environmental and positive psychology models to develop and test the influence of substantive and communicative staging of airport servicescape (i.e., SSoS and CSoS) on passengers’ emotional and subsequent behavioral responses. Furthermore, we examined the extent to which the strength of these associations is contingent upon passengers’ travel frequency (passengers’ familiarity with airport facilities and processes). The study’s sample (n = 387) was drawn from passengers departing from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). The results indicate that airport servicescape robustly engenders passengers’ positive emotion and satisfaction (with SSoS having more potent effects), facilitating intentions to repurchase, recommend, pay more, and partly, spend more. The interaction effects demonstrate that while pleasant CSoS induces higher satisfaction in frequent flyers, pleasing SSoS generates higher satisfaction in infrequent flyers. In addition, positive emotion appears more vital in predicting infrequent passengers’ behavioral intentions to repeat purchase, recommend, and pay more. Passenger satisfaction seems relevant for different passengers regarding their familiarity levels depending on the kind of behavioral response under consideration. Thus, satisfied frequent travelers are more inclined to repeat purchase and pay more; however, satisfied infrequent travelers are more likely to recommend and spend more at airport terminals. The summary, interpretation, and implication of the results conclude the study

COVID-19 Pandemic and International Students’ Mental Health in China: Age, Gender, Chronic Health Condition and Having Infected Relative as Risk Factors

International students in China were among the first group of individuals to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic’s impact on their mental health is underexplored. This study—utilizing web-based survey data (N = 381), presents preliminary reports using ANOVA and MIMIC analytic approaches. Following the clinical demarcation of the 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), we found 24.6%, 38.3%, and 43.6% of the students to suffer mild to extreme stress, anxiety, and depression, respectively. Female students reported significantly higher levels of stress and depression than males. Older students’ reports of stress were more substantial than younger students. Students who reported having a relative infected with the virus (vs. those without) experienced significantly higher anxiety and stress. Those who reported having pre-existing chronic health condition(s) (vs. those without) also reported significantly higher stress, anxiety, and depression levels. Moreover, students with an exercise routine (vs. those without) experienced significantly lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Last, our MIMIC model results indicate that foreign students’ age, gender, chronic health status, and having a relative infected with the virus constitute significant risk factors explaining variations in foreign students’ experience of psychological distress. Implications for international students’ management have been thoroughly discussed