Choice architecture for tourist decision-making in the context of the covid- 19 pandemic.

Abstract

As more information became available on the Covid-19 outbreak worldwide, some propositions aimed at containing its spread had their roots in the behavioral sciences. Given the need to change individual behaviors inherent to the type of transmission of the new coronavirus, it is believed that the theoretical framework on choice architecture and nudges presents itself as an important instrument to guide the debate. In this sense, this article aims to identify and categorize the measures taken by tourism companies for their reopening in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. For this, a study of multiple cases is carried out with a hotel, an airport and an international tourist attraction, which had to undergo interventions in their physical structures and processes in order to start operating again. From the analysis, it was found that most of the nudges had techniques of information translation, visibility of external information, decrease of physical effort and provision of reminders. Techniques of social norms and increase of visibility of behavior were not as explored by the companies analyzed in this study. Finally, the work documents a holistic intervention strategy in tourist behavior, which combines nudges with financial incentives and harsher forms of paternalism.

Keywords
Nudges; Covid-19; Behavioral Economics; Tourism; Case-Study