The influence of e-word-of-mouth on travel decision-making: consumer profiles

The study demonstrates that official travel destination websites are the most widely used online platform among tourists seeking information, followed by travel blogs and travel social network sites.

Abstract

The emergence of Web 2.0 in recent years has significantly affected tourism information sources. This paper attempts to confirm how Travel 2.0 applications have influenced tourist decision-making behaviour. The results of the study show that tourists continue to be influenced to a greater extent by the comments and opinions of friends and relatives (word-of-mouth, WOM) when arranging travel than by other Internet users (eWOM). The study demonstrates that official travel destination websites are the most widely used online platform among tourists seeking information, followed by travel blogs and travel social network sites. Finally, different groups of tourists are classified according to their socio-demographic characteristics to explain the degree to which these information sources influence travel decisions.