The eWOM adoption model in the hospitality industry: the moderating effect of the vlogger’s review

Abstract

Purpose

Vloggers (video bloggers) have emerged as a new phenomenon in social media marketing, especially in the hotel industry, where user-generated reviews can strongly influence purchase decisions. Therefore, this paper aims to build an electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) adoption model (EAM) that incorporates source evaluation attributes (information quality, major influence and source credibility), trust in eWOM and eWOM intention (EWOMI) and booking intention and investigate the moderation of negative reviews from vloggers on relationships in the EAM.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducted two studies (n_s1 = 446, n_s2 = 374). The data were collected through an online and face-to-face survey with an experimental design. This paper conducted covariance-based structural equation model to examine main effects and applied a multiple-group analysis to test the moderating effect of vlogger reviews.

Findings

Three attributes of source evaluation are important predictors of trust in eWOM, which positively impact eWOM and booking intention. EWOMI also positively affects booking intention. Moreover, the negative review of vloggers can lower the effects of information quality on trust and of trust on EWOMI in Study 1 and on hotel booking intention in Study 2.

Originality/value

This study builds the EAM model for the hospitality context and provides novel insights into the moderating effects of vloggers’ negative reviews on the relationships in the EAM.

研究目的

Vlogger（视频博主）已成为社交媒体营销中的一种新现象, 尤其是在酒店行业, 用户生成的评论可以强烈影响购买决策。 因此, 本文旨在建立一个电子口碑 (eWOM) 采用意向模型（EAM）, 该模型包含来源评估属性（信息质量、主要影响力和来源可信度）、对电子口碑的信任、eWOM intention (EWOMI) 和预订意愿, 以及 (2) 调查视频博主对 EAM 中关系的负面评论的调节。

研究设计/方法/途径

当前的研究进行了两项研究（n_s1 = 446, n_s2 = 374）。 数据是通过带有实验设计的在线和面对面调查收集的。 本文使用 CB-SEM 来检查主要效果, 并应用多组分析来测试 vlogger 评论的调节效果。

研究发现

来源评估的三个属性是网络口碑信任度的重要预测指标, 对网络口碑和预订意愿产生积极影响。 EWOMI 也对预订意愿产生积极影响。 此外, vlogger 的负面评论可以降低信息质量对信任的影响, 以及信任对研究 1 中的 EWOMI 和研究 2 中的酒店预订意愿的影响。

研究原创性/价值

这项研究为酒店环境建立了 EAM 模型, 并提供了关于视频博主负面评论对 EAM 中关系的调节作用的新颖见解。

Citation

Le, H.T.P.M. and Ryu, S. (2023), "The eWOM adoption model in the hospitality industry: the moderating effect of the vlogger’s review", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 225-244. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-08-2021-0233