Analyzing the influence of electronic word of mouth on visit intention: the mediating role of tourists’ attitude and city image

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), attitude, and city image affect tourists’ intention to visit a tourism city.

Drawing from the tourism management literature, the authors hypothesize and test the relationships among e-WOM, attitude, overall city image, and visit intentions. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the proposed relationships among the variables.

The empirical results suggested that e-WOM has a positive and significant influence on tourists’ attitude and overall city image. Further, e-WOM, attitude toward city, and overall city image were significant determinants of visit intentions.

The paper contributes to understand the relationship between four constructs of e-WOM, attitude, and overall city image and visit intentions, tested in city tourism in the context of a tourism city.