Credibility Assessment Model of Travel Information Sources: An Exploratory Study on Travel Blogs

Abstract

Understanding how information consumers assess the credibility of travel information sources is important since credibility is a receiver-based judgment and tourism products are experience goods. This exploratory study uses Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory method to construct cause-effect non-recursive model to show how the various credibility dimensions and measurements are related and assessed. Two types of travel blogs: blogs set up by travel companies and blogs set up by frequent traveller writers (travel experts or "da ren") are studied. This study shows that using non-recursive models is necessary and insightful. It also shows that there is no "one size fits all" answer as to how the credibility of a source is assessed. Travel blogs cannot be treated as a monolithic type. Credibility transfer, celebrity factor and whether a medium is well established can affect the process and outcome of credibility assessment.