Study level

  • PhD
  • Master of Philosophy

Faculty/School

Faculty of Business and Law

School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Supervisors

Associate Professor Sven Tuzovic
Position
Associate Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Business & Law

Overview

A growing number of countries in Europe have introduced a ‘hospitality green pass’ (EU Digital COVID Certificate) which is a paper document or app that proves the holder has been fully vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19. It grants consumers access to indoor restaurants, bars, cafes and other indoor venues. That is, without proof of a COVID-19 vaccination, consumers will be prohibited to enter these indoor areas.

However, the introduction of green passes has also led to some backlash. For instance, some people argue that they are an infringement on civil liberties. Others fear that green passes will lead to a divided society where people’s health decisions would limit where they could travel, where they could shop, what events they could attend and whether they would be asked to wear a mask.

The debate is also influenced by political calculations. In the U.S., several Republican States including Florida and Texas oppose to mandate any type of vaccine certificate to enter businesses.

While research has been addressing the issue of ‘service inclusion’ (Fisk et al., 2018; Kuppelwieser and Klaus, 2020), this project seeks to understand the impact of ‘service exclusion’ and consumers’ reactions to the implementation of vaccine passports and green passes. The proposed research can be addressed from multiple angles, including legal, ethical and behavioural considerations.

Read more about the EU Digital COVID Certificate at the European Commission and COVID Passport websites.

References

Dickson, T.J., Darcy, S., Johns, R. and Pentifallo, C. (2016). Inclusive by design: transformative service and sport-event accessibility. The Service Industries Journal, 36 (11-12), 532-555.

Fisk, R.P., Dean, A.M., Alkire, L., Joubert, A., Previte, J., Robertson, N. and Rosenbaum, M.S. (2018). Design for service inclusion: creating inclusive service systems by 2050. Journal of Service Management, 29 (5), 834-858.

Kuppelwieser, V.G. and Klaus, P. (2020). Viewpoint: a primer for inclusive service marketing theory. Journal of Services Marketing, 34 (6), 749-756.

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