Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(see McMahon-Beattie and Yeoman in this volume), it has not been taken up as a distinct aspect
of tourism marketing research as noted by Clarke
et al
. in this volume in the context of trust in
sustainable tourism marketing. However, with the move to online and user generated content,
and the possibilities for abuse, this is an emerging research area for the future (Lee, Law and
Murphy 2011; Kusumasondjaja Shanka and Marchegiani 2012).
Yoo, Lee, Gretzel and Fesenmaier (2009) reviewed the literature and found few studies that
have looked into issues of trust with UGC (or consumer generated media CGM). Their study
generated fi ndings which contradicted the received wisdom about the credibility of online
WOM via CGM. They found that users did not overwhelmingly trust CGM, with over
55 per cent only agreeing that they trusted it 'somewhat'. Additionally, consumers found that use
of CGM led them to spend more time and effort on their travel information search than
non-users. Finally, their fi ndings contradicted general assumptions when they found that users
thought that CGM is most credible when it is posted on offi cial tourism bureau websites, or
travel agency sites. So-called unbiased third party sites only came in third, and social networking
sites had a relatively low credibility rating with only 13 per cent of respondents. They also looked
into determinants of trust in travel-related CGM, and found that perceived expertise of people
who posted material online and perceived credibility of travellers/websites were important
predictors of trust. Clearly this is an important study, but there is more research needed to
understand trust and credibility issues. What are the main factors or mediators of trust when it
comes to unknown recommendations?
A more recent study published by Dickinger (2011) sought to understand the relationships
between type of online content and level of trustworthiness. She selected three main types
of online information provider: marketing content from tourism service providers; public
relations style content from DMOs, which she calls editorial content; and user generated content.
This study differentiated between trust (i.e. the degree to which people have confi dence in the
integrity and so on of others) and trustworthiness (i.e. the degree that people perceive a third
party to have integrity, credibility etc.). The study showed that whereas UGC is perceived to
be highly informative, the degree of quality of the information is doubted. The information
provided by editorial content was perceived to have a high degree of integrity and to be more
trustworthy than service providers and UGC. The study also found important relationships
between antecedents of trustworthiness and the different channels. For example, it found that
benevolence was dominant for personal channels (UGC), linked to social needs, and the sense of
helping each other as part of a personal exchange being an important issue for travellers. However,
ability negatively contributes to trust in UGC. For marketing channels, integrity is the main
driver of trust, highlighting the perceived sincerity of service providers, whereas for the editorial
channels, informative-ness is the main driver of trust, but relatively few travellers consult these
channels. Kusumasondjaja
et al
. (2012) found that credibility increased when there was
congruence between the identities of the reviewer and valence of the information.
What can be done to improve credibility of key sources of information for tourism? What
are the roles of face-to-face communications through WOM compared with eWOM and so on?
What are the factors infl uencing source credibility? Do any factors such as asynchronous
or synchronous communication heighten or lessen or otherwise affect trust/credibility of the
information? Other user characteristics, such as profi le and/or identity of the message source, as
well as salience of the review to the user, could infl uence perceived credibility of the information
and so there are many avenues for further research in this area.
Furthermore the issue of trust and credibility relates not only to UGC and the online
environment, but also the credibility of sources through traditional media channels. The use
of opinion leaders (CEOs, celebrities, experts, consumers) is a well-established tactic to increase
