EWOM IN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Today, the world is witnessing an increasing popularity of user-generated content in the form of reviews and recommendations in various social media platforms. Evidences show that such content has significant influence on individual consumer behaviour and seller actions. The relevance of such content, popularly known as electronic word of mouth (eWOM), in the decision-making process of consumers in the context of international tourism is much researched and analyzed. eWOM is found to be highly relied upon by consumers while choosing tourism services. The purpose of the present study is to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the foundations of eWOM via social media communications and investigate the associated factors influencing consumer behaviour in international tourism. To achieve this purpose, this study reviewed and analyzed papers related to eWOM in tourism that have been published in various academic journals between 1995 and 2019. A total of 50 papers have been analyzed to arrive at significant research findings. Based on the detailed literature review, it was observed that eWOM adoption in tourism is significantly influenced by the usefulness of eWOM that consumers perceive the message possess. This, in turn, is impacted by eWOM quality, eWOM quantity, source credibility, consumers’ prior knowledge of the services being evaluated, homophily and searchers’ intent. Adoption of eWOM impacts consumer attitude, purchase/ travel intentions, product/ service expectations and destination image significantly.