The Mechanism of Word-of-Mouth for Tourist Destinations in Crisis

Feng Xu, Wenxia Niu, Shuaishuai Li and Yuli Bai

SAGE Open, 2020, vol. 10, issue 2, 2158244020919491

Abstract: In an era of mobile internet, word-of-mouth marketing has become a powerful tool for optimizing tourist destination marketing. Extensive research studies on the mechanism of word-of-mouth have been carried out. However, there is little research on the mechanism of word-of-mouth concerning tourist destinations in crisis. This article focuses on the influence mechanism of word-of-mouth in the relationship between perceived images and behavioral intentions. A structural equation model was established, with “perceived image†as the independent variable, “word-of-mouth†and “psychological distance†as mediating variables, and “behavioral intention†as the dependent variable. Our study is based on a survey in Southern Xinjiang. The final results show that word-of-mouth plays a mediating role in the relationship between perceived image and behavioral intentions. The moderating effect of word-of-mouth plays two roles in the mechanism of the perceived image on the behavioral intention: the promotion mechanism and the repression mechanism. Tourists’ sense of psychological distance significantly mediates the relationship between perceived image and behavioral intention. The findings enrich word-of-mouth and the marketing theories for the destinations in crisis, which provide enlightening insights for the sustainable development of the destinations in crisis.

Keywords: Southern Xinjiang; word-of-mouth; psychological distance; perceived image (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:10:y:2020:i:2:p:2158244020919491

DOI: 10.1177/2158244020919491

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