Role of Electronic Word of Mouth in Determining Behavioural Intention A Study of Online Travel Agents in India

Abstract

Electronic word of mouth has been a concept that has been popular among researchers and marketers for decades. The infusion of Web 2.0 further strengthened it by offering the customers a platform to share their views, opinions and attitudes via the internet. Looking at the pace at which this word of mouth grew popular through the use of the internet, it was identified as a boon for the marketers of service industries. The high risk associated with the intangible nature of services was substituted by the information shared by individuals through online platforms. The information shared in such a vast magnitude acted as a huge facilitator for travellers while planning their travel. This also gave rise to the popularity of online travel agents over conventional ones. These online travel agents (OTAs) host a pool of information for travellers to refer to and plan their travel journeys through them. However, the effectiveness of this electronic word of mouth in determining the intentions of the travellers to book through the OTAs remained debatable. newlineThis study, therefore, is an attempt to bridge this gap and examine how effectively eWOM determines the intentions of the consumers. For this, the study adopts the information adoption model as the premise for proposing the research framework and conducting further analysis. The study also integrated this model with a popular behavioural construct Attitude and branding construct Brand image to make a more robust model. The literature also offered sufficient proof for the missing role of some contemporary constructs which have been also integrated into the framework. The study thus adapts personal identifying information, (PII) consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII) and coupon proneness as moderators for examining the influence of eWOM on intentions with better accuracy. The study also used Age, gender and internet usage as moderators to confirm their role in the relationship between information adoption and intention.