Research on the influence mechanism of ewom on selection of tourist destinations—The intermediary role of psychological contract

Abstract

In the context of a growing amount of e-travel bookings, eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth), as a source of information, mainly affects the destination selection of tourists by influencing their psychologies. There is a “non-written” psychological contract for the customers and the service providers of the tourist destinations, which might influence the choice of tourists’ destinations by eWOM. This paper aims to explore psychological contract’s influence on the mechanism of eWOM on the selection of tourist destinations, also to improve the service quality of travel companies and other eWOM-related industries, and furthermore to establish an effective and incentive response mechanism for management of eWOMs in tourism destinations. With a sample of over 284 tourists from a wide range of research sites, this study positively supports the results and probes into the influence of the test which linked the tourist destination selection with eWOM. The results suggest that a psychological contract is playing an intermediary role in such relationships.