Are you influenced by other people's travel experiences? – A study on the herd behaviour of domestic tourists
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15170/MM.2024.58.01.02Keywords:
tourism decision making, herd behaviour, online reviews, behavioural economicsAbstract
THE AIM OF THE PAPER
Social influence has been strong since the emergence of social media platforms and review platforms that have radically changed travellers' behaviour. Tourists are able to conveniently and quickly learn about the opinions and experiences of others when planning their trip. For this reason, this study aims to link the accommodation choice decision mechanism with the phenomenon of shopping behaviour in order to provide a more accurate picture of tourists' purchasing behaviour. The main objective is therefore to answer the question: How does shopping behaviour appear in the online information search and final decision making of domestic travellers?
METHODOLOGY
An online questionnaire survey, based on the theoretical background of portability behaviour, was used as a sample for the study, which was conducted in relevant groups of social networking sites. The survey was also accompanied by apilot exercise to test the impact of opinions. This was done in the light of the accommodation choices made before and inthe light of the opinions.
MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS
Both the responses received, and the experiment carried out confirmed the role of opinions in barrel-keeping and revealed what makes a customer writing credible. Detailed sharing of experiences was a key aspect that came back at several points in the research. Furthermore, while the personal attributes of the commenter have little influence on the credibility of reviews, the level of detail, the number of Stars and the number of Reviews have a medium influence. Also, experimentally, the carry-over effect has been confirmed, as individuals' preferences have been completelychanged by the impact of reviews.
The study takes an interdisciplinary approach, as it seeks to explain tourism marketing by the behavioural economics ofthe phenomenon of horde behaviour, a topic that is under-researched internationally and highly unusual in the domesticcontext.
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