Communication platforms are undergoing a transition from physical to digital spaces. The Internet has radically changed the business scenario wherein people have become the “media” for collaborating to share information. Practitioners have started using electronic word of mouth (eWOM) for consumer insight through text analytics, sentiment, hashtag analytics, and other machine learning tools. Due to the growing importance of the topic as a research area, it is vital to map the research domain. This paper uses performance analysis tools (quantitative and qualitative) and science mapping tools (conceptual and intellectual structures) for literature review and the identification of future research directions. The content analysis of emergent topics and themes offers directions for future researchers. Recommender systems, data mining (artificial intelligence and machine learning), semantics, and sentiment analysis are emergent topics. We contribute to the eWOM literature by canvassing state-of-the-art research and proposing future research directions.
Purpose
This study aims to examine the moderated-mediation impact of consumer involvement and destination preference on travel intentions. Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) and elaboration likelihood model (ELM) guided the conceptual framework of this study.
Design/methodology/approach
Churchill’s (1979) guidelines instrumentalize the scientific development and validation of measurement scales for data collection. The authors used higher-order multivariate analyzes such as structural equation modeling (SEM) and the Hayes process model for evaluating the hypotheses. The study uses Bauer et al. (2006) method to assess the conditional indirect effects of Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on travel intention through destination preference at varying levels of consumer involvement.
Findings
SOR and ELM model successfully explained the moderated-mediation effect of eWOM, consumer involvement and destination preference in influencing the travel intentions. Results broaden the applicability of SOR and ELM in tourism marketing. Results indicate that consumer involvement moderated the direct and indirect influence of eWOM on travel intention via destination preference, such that the eWOM influence in shaping travel intention is stronger for highly involved consumers.
Research limitations/implications
The present study broadens the applicability of integrated SOR and ELM models to explain the moderated-mediation network between eWOM and travel intentions. Study findings offer new avenues to tourism marketers for the magnified effect of eWOM for promoting tourism. Tourism marketers may use customer journeys to build destination preference through organic information exchange with prospective travelers. Future researchers and practitioners can build prescriptive and predictive models based on altered levels of consumer involvement.
Originality/value
Present study pioneers in examining the interactive effect of moderated mediation network of consumer involvement and destination preference in shaping the travel intention. Grounded in SOR and ELM model, the present study is a trailblazer to offer the integrated moderated-mediation model between eWOM, destination preference, consumer involvement and travel intention.
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