Title: Analysing the role of WOM and eWOM in exploring tourist destinations

Authors: Priyanka Malik; Shalini Gautam

Addresses: Amity International Business School, Amity University, Noida, India ' Delhi Metropolitan Education, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Noida, India

Abstract: Word of mouth (WOM) and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) are very effective and important communication tools to persuade consumers for purchasing the products/services. These become more significant with products that are difficult to assess before consumption, e.g., hospitality. The tourism industry is reviving, and the consumer is conscious when booking a particular destination. Thus, it is important to understand how WOM and eWOM are impacting the various factors in distinct ways while choosing the tourist destination. The seven factors identified, for the present study, are channel engagement, expertise, homophily, resource helpfulness, source credibility, tie-strength, and trustworthiness. The PLS-SEM was used to test the theoretical model of this study. The study shows that both WOM and eWOM impact an individual in different ways. The expertise of the reviewer is the most important factor in the case of WOM and channel engagement is the most significant factor for eWOM. Resource helpfulness is common for both WOM and eWOM.

Keywords: electronic word-of-mouth; eWOM; channel engagement; expertise; homophily; resource helpfulness; source credibility; tie-strength; trustworthiness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2024.141798

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2024 Vol.15 No.6, pp.639 - 661

Received: 09 Jun 2022
Accepted: 16 Sep 2022
Published online: 02 Oct 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article