Title: Why are bloggers willing to share their thoughts via travel blogs?

Authors: Kuo-Chang Ting; Ping-Ho Ting; Po-Wen Hsiao

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, No. 1, Xinxing Rd., Xinfeng Hsinchu 30401, Taiwan; Department of Information Engineering, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, No. 1, Xinxing Rd., Xinfeng Hsinchu 30401, Taiwan ' Department of Hospitality Management, National Chi Nan University, No. 1, University Rd., Puli, Nantou 54561, Taiwan; Department of Leisure Studies and Tourism Management, National Chi Nan University, No. 1, University Rd., Puli, Nantou 54561, Taiwan ' Department of Hospitality Management, TungHai University, P.O. Box 891, Taichung 40704, Taiwan

Abstract: Since the success of Web 2.0 technology, travel blogs have played an important role for travellers when planning their trips because they usually consult articles published on travel blogs before deciding on their travel destination. However, past researchers have mainly focused on the study of blog participants instead of the bloggers themselves. Why bloggers are willing to share their thoughts on travel blogs seems to be an interesting and important topic. Our study shows that four positive factors including perceived usefulness, reputation, altruism, and trust influenced the attitudes toward sharing, which accounted for 54% of the variance. Another positive factor is the subjective norm, which influenced the intention on sharing via the travel blog, which accounted for 69% of the variance.

Keywords: bloggers; travel blogs; technology acceptance model; TAM; travel destinations; perceived usefulness; reputation; altruism; trust; information sharing; subjective norm.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2014.059237

International Journal of Technology Management, 2014 Vol.64 No.1, pp.89 - 108

Published online: 10 May 2014 *

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