The COVID-19 pandemic has hampered consumers’ psychological well-being and the travel industry. Secondary evidence suggests a revenge travel phenomenon. This study theorizes and empirically demonstrates that nostalgia helps consumers cope with pandemic distress and cultivates the desire for leisure travel. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework, consumer perceived severity of COVID-19 (stimulus) triggers nostalgia (organism), which increases the desire for leisure travel (response). The effect of nostalgia on desire to travel is robust when manipulated via a marketing communication (ad-hoc experiment). This study further explains travel pursuit heterogeneity with the interaction of a consumer’s approach-avoidance motivation system and traveler personality.
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