The value of tourism public opinion management in social governance: A study on the impact of electronic word-of-mouth perception on people’s livelihood well-being

Abstract

In the process of tourism market upgrading and tourism iteration, tourism companies will face a more complex public opinion environment. Designing a socialized public opinion management method for tourism with social governance to improve people’s livelihood and well-being has become the primary concern of the tourism industry. Therefore, the existing literature has extensively focused on the role and influence of public opinion word of mouth from the perspective of tourist or consumer behavior. However, moderating role of individual tourist characteristics and environmental elements has not yet been deeply explored. Therefore, integrating with the background of the social media, this study examines how electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is related to the well-being of people’s livelihood, and explores the interaction between individual characteristics and eWOM perception in Study 1. Furthermore, in Study 2, we provided novel boundary conditions, namely environmental elements (i.e., physical, social and historical environment). We used mixed methods (i.e., quantitative and experimental designs) to reveal that tourists’ perceptions of eWOM have a significant positive effect on tourists’ well-being experience. The results show that tourists’ eWOM perception has a significant positive impact on their well-being experience. In addition, individual characteristics and environmental elements showed significant moderating effects between eWOM and well-being of people’s livelihood. This study discusses the theoretical and practical implications, exploring the value of tourism public opinion management in social governance centered on tourists’ eWOM perception, which helps tourism companies to effectively prevent and resolve risks affecting social harmony and stability in the field of cultural tourism and create a safe and stable cultural tourism market environment.

Nostalgia and negotiation: The electronic word‐of‐mouth and social well‐being of older consumers

“…literature is yet to explore how the social value of eWOM influences the consumer and their well-being, except for a Li et al (2022) who explore this in relation to eWOM perceptions in tourism and how it influences hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Additionally, all empirical papers in Table 1 are quantitative or mixed methods, resulting in a scarcity of studies adding depth to constructs such as social value, relationships, and social ties (Akram et al, 2021;Izogo et al, 2023;Wang et al, 2018).…”

“…reveal differences in eWOM consumption between older and younger consumers creating an argument for further scholarship (Iyer et al, 2017;Li et al, 2022). For instance, Iyer et al (2017) discover that older consumers processing complex political communications respond to extensive and detailed information, whereas younger consumers prefer shorter and less complex messages.…”

“…It is evident that scholarship has evolved from investigating what social factors motivate and drive consumers to create eWOM (e.g., social benefits, social relationship factors, and social bonding; Berger, 2014; Chu & Kim, 2011; Hennig‐Thurau et al, 2004) toward how eWOM as a social activity impacts commercial outcomes such as purchase intensions, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty (Akram et al, 2021; Izogo et al, 2023; Wang et al, 2018). The literature is yet to explore how the social value of eWOM influences the consumer and their well‐being, except for a Li et al (2022) who explore this in relation to eWOM perceptions in tourism and how it influences hedonic and eudaimonic well‐being. Additionally, all empirical papers in Table 1 are quantitative or mixed methods, resulting in a scarcity of studies adding depth to constructs such as social value, relationships, and social ties (Akram et al, 2021; Izogo et al, 2023; Wang et al, 2018).…”

“…Subsequently, we enhance the literature on eWOM with noncommercial intentions by broadening the scope beyond health services and altruistic behaviors (Keeling et al, 2013(Keeling et al, , 2015Mohammad et al, 2021;Previte et al, 2019) to include a general conversation of brands, products, and services on a social media platform. Second, we enhance the literature on the social value of eWOM and its interaction with well-being (Lee et al, 2020;Li et al, 2022;Mosteller & Mathwick, 2014;Wakefield & Wakefield, 2018) by focusing on social well-being (Keyes, 1998). It is yet to be explored in relation to eWOM consumption, despite the social value that eWOM creates (Berger, 2014;Chu & Kim, 2011;Hennig-Thurau et al, 2004;Wang et al, 2018).…”

“…Extant literature that focuses on eWOM and well‐being, does so from an individual perspective and tends to overlook the role of social value. For instance, these papers demonstrate that creating positive eWOM and eWOM perception can enhance psychological, eudaimonic, and hedonic well‐being, whilst negative eWOM creation can produce feelings of anxiety (Lee et al, 2020; Li et al, 2022; Wakefield & Wakefield, 2018). Mosteller and Mathwick (2014) allude to social value by establishing that interactions (e.g., rankings) between reviewers and consumers enhances subjective and psychological well‐being.…”