Credibility in Question: Travel Information Adoption Among Chinese Consumers in Canada and Singapore

Abstract

Drawing upon the dual-route theory of information processing, this study examined whether people from the same cultural origin would adopt online travel information differently, namely through the central or peripheral route, in consideration of the influences from their host societies as either being individualistic or collectivistic. Responses were collected from people of Chinese descent in Singapore (n = 133) and compared with data from Chinese people in Canada (n = 106). Results of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicate that cultural orientation might no longer explain differences in people’s information processing as no significant peripheral route represented by source credibility was confirmed in either of the sample groups. Meanwhile, the present study examined the possibility of a single-route persuasion approach, where peripheral cue represented by source credibility would be used as a filter to select out credible information for further scrutiny. While prior research has demonstrated that both processing routes can be used concurrently, the order in which they are adopted is seldom discussed in the literature. Results of the multi-group invariance test suggest that the re-conceptualized single-route persuasion model might better explain online travel information processing for Chinese consumers in both Canada and Singapore in today’s context.