Does expressway congestion affect tourists' intention for holiday self-drive trips?-Evidence from a mixed-methods...

This study examines holiday self-drive tourists' perceptions of expressway congestion and explores the underlying mechanisms through which these perceptions influence their intention to take future holiday self-drive trips. A mixed-methods design was employed. In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews and grounded theory analysis identified a four-dimensional structure and corresponding measurement items of tourists perceived expressway congestion. In the quantitative phase, data collected from 414 self-drive tourists were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS. The results indicate that while expressway congestion provokes negative emotions and subsequently leads to negative word-of-mouth, it does not diminish the intention for additional holiday self-drive trips. Furthermore, optimism and frequency of self-drive trips serve as moderators between perceived environmental impact and negative emotions, and between negative emotions and negative word-of-mouth, respectively. This study makes the first systematic attempt to develop a measurement scale for perceived expressway congestion, thereby advancing the understanding of intention for holiday self-drive trips from a novel perspective. It also extends the application of Affective Events Theory (AET) and offers actionable insights for managing expressway congestion during peak holiday travel periods.