Exploring the influence of electronic word-of-mouth on tourists’ visit intention. A dual process approach
| Pages | 381-395 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JSIT-04-2015-0027 |
| Published date | 09 November 2015 |
| Date | 09 November 2015 |
| Author | Ping Wang |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems |
Exploring the inuence of
electronic word-of-mouth on
tourists’ visit intention
A dual process approach
Ping Wang
Information Systems Science, Turku School of Economics,
University of Turku, Turku, Finland
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the inuence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)
on outbound tourists’ intention to visit a destination through a dual-process perspective – the central
route of argument quality (AQ) and the peripheral route of source credibility (SC). With the pervasion of
Web 2.0 and information and communication technology, user-generated content (UGC) has become
popular in the online environment, and it affects consumers’ decisions greatly.
Design/methodology/approach – A structural model based on Elaboration Likelihood Model
(ELM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) is proposed in this study to explore the inuence of eWOM
on outbound tourists’ intention to visit a destination. Empirical data were collected among Chinese
outbound tourists via an online survey. The data were analyzed using structural equation model with
SPSS Amos 22.0.
Findings – The research results indicate that tourist’s attitude toward a destination was positively
inuenced by AQ of eWOM, and intention to recommend the destination before travel was
positively inuenced by attitude toward destination and SC of destination-related eWOM. Outbound
tourists’ intention to visit a destination was positively determined by AQ, attitude toward destination
and WOM intention. Several practical and theoretical implications are also discussed in the study.
Originality/Value – This study contributed to the understanding of individual’s decision-making
through a dual-process perspective. Findings indicate that the dual inuence process delineated in
theory of ELM is also applicable to explain individual’s decision in complicated information source.
Keywords Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM),
Online information source, Online travel information, Visit decision
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
With the expanding use of Web 2.0 technology and the prevalence of social media,
user-generated contents (UGCs) are playing an increasingly central role in supporting
customers’ purchase decisions. Such as in the travel industry, travelers rely heavily on
UGCs to make their travel decisions, including hotels and travel destinations. Travel
service providers mainly offer services to customers, which are difcult to evaluate prior
to their consumption and experience (Litvin et al., 2008). Travelers produce large
amounts of UGC/electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) via various social media platforms
to share their experience with others and help other travelers to support their travel
decision (Li and Liu, 2014).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1328-7265.htm
Inuence of
electronic
word-of-mouth
381
Received 2 April 2015
Revised 16 July 2015
Accepted 17 September 2015
Journalof Systems and
InformationTechnology
Vol.17 No. 4, 2015
pp.381-395
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1328-7265
DOI 10.1108/JSIT-04-2015-0027
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