Description
The purpose of this research is to help tourism marketers maximize the persuasiveness of
their websites toward the objective of increasing visitation to their destination
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Destination websites' persuasiveness
Marsha D. Loda Karin Teichmann Andreas H. Zins
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To cite this document:
Marsha D. Loda Karin Teichmann Andreas H. Zins, (2009),"Destination websites' persuasiveness", International J ournal of Culture,
Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 3 Iss 1 pp. 70 - 80
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Destination websites’ persuasiveness
Marsha D. Loda, Karin Teichmann and Andreas H. Zins
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this research is to help tourism marketers maximize the persuasiveness of
their websites toward the objective of increasing visitation to their destination.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes a two-part research project: a content analysis
of websites to determine the most frequently used elements; and an experiment wherein respondents
view one of ten randomly assigned websites and complete a survey about the credibility, message
strength, and persuasiveness of that site.
Findings – Results support the importance of message credibility to message strength, and that both
may impact on change of propensity to visit a destination. It also points out new information about
website elements. While more organic website elements such as testimonials and web cams are
expected to affect the most change, they do not. Rather, information on fundamental elements such as
accommodations and attractions has the most effect on message credibility, and on respondents’
change in propensity to visit a destination.
Originality/value – Substantial differences exist in the persuasiveness of various tourism websites.
Website elements concerning basic information seem to induce the most positive changes. Therefore,
funds and energy to develop and maintain novel website elements such as web cams, guest books,
message boards and e-cards may not be worth the effort when it comes to increasing visitation.
Keywords Tourism, Worldwide web
Paper type Research paper
P
ersuasion is the act of convincing others to think, feel or do what we want (Perloff,
1993). In the marketplace, consumers are persuaded toward potential tourism
destinations through various means including interpersonal conversations with
friends and family and by advertising and publicity in the mass media. However, travelers
today are increasingly turning to the internet as an information source.
Background
As people increasingly use the internet for destination information, tourismproviders need to
understand how to maximize the persuasiveness of their websites. Research on information
sources signi?cantly links the credibility of information to purchase intent (Loda et al., 2007).
Prior knowledge is suspected to affect the ability to process information, and to discriminate
relevant from irrelevant information during a web information search (Cho, 2001). Further
research into website credibility suggests that observable signals, such as production and
design elements, enhance trust in a site (Schlosser et al., 2006).
The issue of credibility
In addition to design, other research concludes that a good interface and ease of use,
including menus to organize information, enhance the credibility of a commercial site
(Wathen and Burkell, 2002). To aid in website credibility, Wathen and Burkell argue for
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VOL. 3 NO. 1 2009, pp. 70-80, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/17506180910940351
Marsha D. Loda is based at
Augusta State University,
Augusta, Georgia, USA.
Karin Teichmann and
Andreas H. Zins are both
based at Vienna University
of Economics and Business
Administration, Vienna,
Austria.
Received June 2007
Revised March 2008
Accepted June 2008
The authors thank Barbara
Carrick Coleman, associate
dean of the Hull College of
Business at Augusta State
University, for proo?ng and
commenting about this paper.
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presenting institutional or individual credentials, quality rating awards, links to other credible
websites and using a URL suf?x denoting an educational, nonpro?t or governmental
designation. An online study of over 1,400 respondents ?nds seven factors that affect
people’s perception of credibility: real-world feel, ease of use, expertise, trustworthiness and
tailoring (Fogg et al., 2001). In contrast, two elements hurt credibility: commercial
implications and amateurism.
In comparing the internet as a source to other media, Flanagin and Metzger (2000) report
that, overall, respondents consider internet information to be as credible as information from
other mass media, except newspapers. However, credibility varies depending on the types
of information sought such as reference, news, entertainment, and commercial information.
Research speci?c to travel information is not proli?c. A study by Chen (2006) offers
information consistent with ?ndings from the broader marketplace. Chen concludes design
(physical appearance, color, layout, graphics), functionality, usability, ef?ciency, reliability
and likeability are elements that signi?cantly in?uence trust in a tourism website.
Satitkit and Everett (2001) analyze many travel agent websites in New Zealand ranging in
complexity from a simple presence to fully developed e-commerce sites. The ?ndings show
that travel agents need to improve their websites’ ease of use and design. To enhance trust
with website users, designers should link to other sites with relevant information.
Research is lacking in the speci?c elements of a travel website that contribute to
persuasiveness. Credibility is critical due to the intangible nature of the tourism product and
the economic and psychological risk associated with destination selection. Moroson and
Fesenmaier (2007) consider information quality and credibility as hygiene features within
their persuasive architecture of tourism websites, and call for further studies testing their
propositions empirically and in a comprehensive manner.
The impact of credibility
Credibility is a key component of persuasive communication in general. O’Keefe (1990, p.
130) de?nes credibility as ‘‘judgments made by a perceiver (e.g., a message recipient)
concerning the believability of a communicator’’. Overall, theorists generally agree that two
dimensions are key to source credibility (McCroskey and Teven, 1999). One dimension is
competence (i.e. quali?cation, expertness, intelligence, authoritativeness), and the other is
trustworthiness (i.e. character, sagacity, safety, honesty).
Credibility is especially important in tourism. Research shows that intangible, expensive
service purchases such as travel involve both ?nancial and emotional risk (Fisk et al., 2000).
Generally, consumers acquire information as a risk reduction strategy. The more reliable or
credible the information, the lower the perceived risk (Vogt and Fesenmaier, 1998).
Source credibility is a recurring theme in studies concerning effective communication and
tourism image creation. Gunn (1972) relates credibility with the different ways in which
people form cognitive images. He argues that images are formed through induced and
organic agents. Induced images are a function of marketing efforts and destination
promoters. Organic images come from unbiased sources, and are not directly associated
with a destination. The key difference between organic and induced image formation
agents, Gunn argues, is the control the destination area has over what is presented.
However, whether internet sites are perceived by potential tourists as induced or organic
sources in undetermined.
Cho (2001, p. v) examines the credibility of information sources in tourists’ information
search behavior, along with the role of prior knowledge and need for information. In this
study, respondents rate ten information sources, ranging from their own experience to
magazines, newspapers and the internet, on a scale of 1 (not at all credible) to 7 (very
credible). Results reveal that ‘‘the credibility of sources was found to have the most crucial
in?uence on the selection and use of the source, compared with the effects of prior
knowledge and need for information’’. While one’s own experience and information from
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friends and family rate as most credible respectively, the internet ranks as the most credible
external information source.
In their study, Kim and Fesenmaier (2007) test the in?uence of six factors on the ?rst
impression (in terms of favorableness) of ?fty of?cial state tourism websites in the United
States. Only inspiration, usability, and credibility perceptions show signi?cant evidence to
impact on a DMO websites’ persuasiveness.
Yoo et al. (2007) examine source characteristics in e-word-of-mouth. Their experimental
study suggests that authority cues increase credibility perceptions and local residents’
recommendations. Potential tourists also see cues regarding source characteristics as
important.
Concerning the effects of advertising and publicity on destination selection, Loda et al.
(2007) report that publicity is more credible than advertising, and that publicity more
positively impacts on message strength and purchase intent.
Reasoned action and elaboration
Much research exists concerning how consumers process information. Researchers
examining this issue often use the expectancy-value (EV) theory of Ajzen and Fishbein
(1980). This is a model of reasoned behavior or central route processing (as described in the
Elaboration Likelihood Model) wherein consumers carefully consider message content
(Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). In these cases, the success of persuasive communications
depends on the degree to which consumers accept message claims (Smith and Vogt,
1995). Factors that in?uence message acceptance include perceived credibility and
message strength (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980).
The ELM is often the foundation for research in tourism. Manfredo’s (1992) work on
in?uencing human behavior is widely cited in the leisure and tourism ?eld. He uses the ELM,
among others, to help explain why persuasive attempts to in?uence the public often fail or
meet with marginal success. The ELMis also a framework in exploring individual differences
among people’s attitudes toward holidays and novelty seeking (Crotts, 1992).
Hypotheses
This study addresses issues of importance to both the tourism and marketing ?elds. Of
particular signi?cance is the issue of credibility to both message strength and acceptance,
which is reported to lead to higher beliefs, improved attitude toward the destination and then
to purchase intent. Credibility is critical due to the intangible nature of the tourism product
and the risk associated with destination selection. The current study suggests that for the
message in a website to persuade, or to have enough strength to lead to a change in
purchase intent, it must ?rst have credibility before it will be accepted by the consumer.
Accordingly, this research examines the persuasive effects of websites on the effectiveness
of marketing a tourist destination. Speci?cally this research attempts to test:
B whether there is a difference between the persuasiveness of tourism sites and the role
that credibility plays; and
B to identify which content elements of the website may be most in?uential.
Dependent variables include perceived credibility, message strength, and purchase intent
(change of propensity to visit). Website elements are also included as intervening variables.
The study proposes six speci?c hypotheses are (see Figure 1).
H1. Websites vary in their persuasive effect on respondents.
H2. Websites differ in their levels of message credibility.
H2a. Websites with high levels of message credibility have common elements that rate
higher on credibility than others.
H3. Websites contain differing levels of message strength.
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H4. Change in propensity to visit vary by website.
H5. Websites will have common elements that rate high on recall, credibility and
usefulness.
H6. Higher website persuasiveness results in a reduced need for information outside
the internet.
Method
Two parts comprise the methodology for this study: a content analysis and an experiment. A
content analysis of city tourism organizations/destination marketing organizations
(CTO/DMO) websites determines content elements that are most commonly used. For the
experimental portion, a convenience sample of 219 American college students and 175
travel interested people from Europe view one of ten randomly assigned websites and
answer questions. Respondents then rate 20 speci?c website elements, ranging from
restaurant information and calendars of events to testimonials and message boards, for
recall, credibility and usefulness.
Destination selection
For the content analysis, respondents analyze 60 of?cial websites of CTO/DMOs to compile
a comprehensive list of common content elements; the 20 most common are incorporated
into the questionnaire. For the experiment, nine websites are selected from the 60
CTO/DMOs comprising the content analysis. The nine sites represent major city tourism
destinations in Europe and the USA (according to Travel and Leisure, www.travelandleisure.
com/worldsbest/2006). Primarily well-known destinations are selected to add a degree of
veracity to the experimental setting. The experiment includes ten sites; the island of Aruba is
added as an expected best practice example.
Study variables and scale development
Ten Destination Marketing Organization (CTO/DMO) websites comprise the stimulus and
independent variable of this study. The three major dependent variables are message
strength, perceived credibility, and purchase intent.
Perceived credibility measures contain three Likert-type scales asking howtruthful, accurate
and credible the stimulus is to the respondent. These measures, by Darley and Smith (1993)
and Smith and Hunt (1978), use a seven-point scale, and the responses are averaged to
generate the perceived credibility statistic.
Message strength measures consist of a three-item scale by Miniard et al. (1990) and Petty
et al. (1983). This Likert-type scale asks respondents to rate message claims from weak
(23) to strong (þ3).
Figure 1 Study framework
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To assess purchase intent, a seven-point Likert-type scale asks respondents if they
experience any change in likelihood to visit the destination after exposure to the destination’s
website. Responses range from no change (1) to changed a lot (7).
To assess website elements for recall, credibility and usefulness, respondents see a list of
the 20 most commonly used elements from the content analysis. To measure recall,
respondents check all elements they remember seeing on the website. Next, from the list of
elements they recall, respondents rate two elements highest in terms of credibility, and
select two elements to rate lowest in credibility. For usefulness, participants rate each
website element on a seven-point scale ranging from very useful to not at all useful.
Data collection procedures
A computer program randomly assigns three hundred ninety four subjects (219 American
college students and 175 travel interested people from Europe) to the ten treatment groups.
In keeping with the procedures of Smith and Vogt (1995) and Loda et al. (2007), a cover
page asks subjects to read instructions carefully, spend as much time as they need to view
the stimulus, and then proceed through the questionnaire. To create reasonably high
processing involvement, instructions advise subjects to ‘‘consider yourself a person who
has saved their funds, and now has the time and money to take a vacation this summer’’.
Respondents are instructed to visit the site, forman evaluation of the destination, and answer
some questions about the destination at the end. Each participant signs onto a website with
these instructions, a direct link to the stimulus site, and survey questions. Subjects answer if
they visited their assigned travel destination before; those with prior experience are
eliminated from the analysis.
Analysis and results
Following the experiment, researchers enter data in SPSS 15, perform a MANOVA to assess
variables simultaneously, then look for areas of signi?cance using a series of one-way
ANOVAs. Discriminant analysis is used to assess website elements. Signi?cance is
measured at 0.05.
Pro?le of respondents
Respondents are between 16 and 65 years old, with an average age of 26 (75 percent are
younger than 27); 52 percent are female. Concerning ethnicity, 81 percent indicate a
Caucasian origin, 9 percent are African American, 1 percent is Hispanic or Latin American,
and 2 percent report an Asian or Paci?c Island origin. On average, respondents travel quite
frequently with 3.7 trips a year; 10 percent report no travel at all, while 30 percent report
taking 1 or 2 trips a year, and 35 percent take 3 or 4 annual trips. Due to the random
assignment of destinations, each of the 10 CTO/DMOs initially has an equal frequency of
about 40 respondents. After eliminating the personal experience effect, the frequency for the
destinations is skewed: New York (17), London (19), Chicago (35), Budapest (40), and
Madrid (41). Overall, 46 percent of the destinations symbolize short or medium distance
trips, while the remaining 54 percent represent long distance travel.
Results of content analysis
The average exposure time, including the answering of the questionnaire, is about 15
minutes. After the website inspection, respondents check those content elements they can
recall. On average almost six elements are marked. This recall volume is slightly in?uenced
by exposure time (R
2
¼ 0:037). The main effect may rely on the visual attractiveness and
other communicative functions. Respondents most frequently recall website information on
attractions, restaurants, destination descriptions, accommodations, shopping, calendars of
events, and maps. Web-cams, testimonials, guest books, message boards, evaluation or
comment areas and e-cards (elements the Aruba site uses) rate lowest on recall.
Each respondent then ranks recalled website elements as very high or very low in credibility
(see Table I). Again, information about attractions ranks highest followed by information
about restaurants and accommodations, calendars of events and destination descriptions.
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Website elements expressing dominant low credibility concern shopping, search functions,
information request options, testimonials, and guest book and traveler forum entries.
For usefulness, three content areas rank high: maps, accommodation and attraction
information. In contrast, e-cards, guest books and web-cams, rate lowest in terms of
usefulness.
Testing of H1 – Persuasive affect of DMO websites
MANOVA allows the analysis of a set of dependent measures across a group formed by one
or more independent measures. In the present study, MANOVA assesses the dependent
variables (message credibility, message strength, change in purchase intent)
simultaneously as a process, as happens when a person is exposed to a stimulus such
as an advertisement or an internet site.
H1 states that websites vary in their effect on respondents. The multivariate procedure
indicates a signi?cant overall group difference among the dependent vector in the current
study (Wilks’ Lambda ¼ 0:78, F ¼ 2:60, p , 0.01). The ?ndings support H1. Not all websites
are equally persuasive; they vary signi?cantly in their effect on respondents. Additional
analyses determine where the differences are for each dependent variable.
Perceived credibility
H2 states websites differ in their levels of message credibility. Descriptive statistics for
treatment groups average M ¼ 4:9, SD ¼ 1:02, and range from a low for Los Angeles
(M ¼ 4:5, SD ¼ 0:84) to a high for Rome (M ¼ 5:4, SD ¼ 0:72). A one-way ANOVA compares
these means and tests statistical differences. The F-test (F ¼ 2:46, df ¼ 9) indicates a
signi?cant in?uence ( p , 0.05). Three of the between group comparisons reveal signi?cant
differences, as depicted in Table II. These differences are between Los Angeles and Rome,
Los Angeles and Chicago and Los Angeles and London.
The analysis supports H2. Websites differ signi?cantly in their levels of message credibility.
In this experiment, Rome, Chicago and London generate signi?cantly higher levels of
message credibility than does Los Angeles.
Table I Recalled website elements and their credibility and perceived usefulness
Credibility
Website elements n ¼ Recall (%) High Low Usefulness
attractions 213 76 33 13 1.8
restaurants 179 64 20 17 2.3
destination descriptions 167 60 18 14 2
accommodation 163 58 20 16 1.8
shop 128 46 8 15 2.9
calendar of events 121 43 19 4 2.2
maps 121 43 17 3 1.7
search functions 104 37 5 8 2.8
reservation 101 36 6 7 2.4
public transportation 98 35 8 8 2.3
information request/order 65 23 2 6 2.4
car rental 50 18 3 4 2.5
news 42 15 3 5 3.3
traveler forum 35 13 0 5 3.2
web-cams 17 6 1 1 4.5
testimonials 14 5 0 3 3.1
guest book 13 5 1 3 4.3
message board 13 5 1 2 3.3
evaluation/comments 13 5 0 2 3.2
e-cards 11 4 0 1 3.9
Note: Usefulness measured on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 ‘‘very useful’’ to 7 ‘‘not at all useful’’
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Credibility and website elements
This extension to H2 states that websites with high levels of credibility will have common
elements that are rated high on credibility. To test this, 20 web elements in the survey are
recoded from a selection process (check two) to pseudo-metric data ranging fromþ1 (high
credibility), 21 (low credibility) or 0 (item not selected from the high or low credibility list).
For the analysis, overall website credibility is classi?ed into three similar levels of þ1 to 21.
Websites from London, Paris, Rome and Chicago rate high; rated low are Budapest, Los
Angeles and Las Vegas. Madrid, New York, and Aruba rate medium on credibility.
Discriminant analysis ?rst fails in investigating the credibility of speci?c website elements.
However, after eliminating the medium group to run an extreme group comparison, two
elements contribute to the grouping of credible informational website elements:
accommodations and attractions (Wilks’ Lambda ¼ 0:95, p , 0.01).
Discriminant analysis for recalled elements shows positive effects for restaurants, public
transportation and testimonials, but negative effects for evaluation and comment areas and
web-cams. For useful elements, public transportation, reservation and shop facilities are
positive, while car rental, e-cards, and information requests show negative effects.
Message strength
H3 states that CTO/DMOs differ in the levels of message strength their websites generate.
Descriptive statistics for treatment groups average M ¼ 5:22, SD ¼ 1:36, and range from a
low for Budapest (M ¼ 4:6, SD ¼ 1:79) to a high for Chicago (M ¼ 5:8, SD ¼ 0:82). The
F-test (F ¼ 4:77, df ¼ 9) indicates a signi?cant in?uence ( p , 0.05).
In post hoc tests, ?ve of the between group comparisons reveal signi?cant differences, as
Table III depicts. These differences are between Madrid and three other DMOs: London,
Rome and Chicago; and between Chicago and Budapest as well as Chicago and Los
Angeles.
According to this evidence, H3 is supported. Websites differ signi?cantly in the levels of
message strength they generate. In this experiment, the websites for Rome, Chicago and
London generate signi?cantly higher levels of message strength than the sites for Los
Angeles, Budapest or Madrid.
Purchase intent (change of propensity to visit)
H4 states that change in propensity to visit varies by website exposure. A seven-item scale
asks about change in propensity to visit following exposure to the website. Descriptive
statistics for treatment groups average M ¼ 2:7, SD ¼ 1:70, and range from a low for Las
Table II Result of treatment groups with signi?cance on perceived credibility
Treatment Treatment group Mean difference Standard error p
Los Angeles Rome 20.930 0.215 0.003
Chicago 20.779 0.213 0.022
London 0.795 0.195 0.007
Table III Result of treatment groups with signi?cance on message strength
Treatment Treatment group Mean difference Standard error p
Madrid London 20.998 0.292 0.048
Rome 20.995 0.290 0.048
Chicago 20.925 0.264 0.001
Chicago Budapest 1.27 0.306 0.005
Los Angeles 1.13 0.277 0.008
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Vegas (M ¼ 2:03, SD ¼ 1:31) to a high for Chicago (M ¼ 3:1, SD ¼ 0:18). The F-test at the
treatment level of 10 DMOs fails to pass the usual signi?cance level. Relaxing the treatment
condition and exploiting the variance prevailing within a particular DMO website evaluation,
however, yields signi?cant and positive correlations. Correlation coef?cients between
change in propensity to visit are r ¼ 0:16 for website credibility and r ¼ 0:24 for message
strength.
Therefore, research partially supports H4. Evidence concludes that websites differ in
generating a change in the propensity to visit a destination following exposure to a website,
but the change appears to be a weak one.
Website element commonality
H5 states websites have common elements that rate high on recall, credibility and
usefulness. The ?ndings support H5. Respondents most frequently recall website elements
enforcing message strength in association with attractions, restaurants, and traveler forums.
The same elements that respondents rate as very useful in the trip preparation phase also
contribute to a higher perception of message strength. Concerning credibility, only
accommodation information shows a positive effect.
Persuasiveness and need for further information
H6 states that higher website persuasiveness result in a reduced need for information
outside the internet. Research also supports this hypothesis. Two groups of respondents are
distinguished: those who need additional information for planning their trip and those who
are satis?ed with the information on the DMO website.
Respondents indicating not needing any additional information to prepare for their trip
perceive the website to be more credible (t 2value ¼ 3:01, p , 0.01) and are associated
with higher message strength (t 2value ¼ 4:89, p , 0.01). They also recall 13 percent more
elements from their website visit.
For those who need further information, the source of information they would seek varies by
attitude toward the website. Those who perceive the website to have low credibility would
seek information from online travel forums, friends and relatives, and hotel or
accommodation brochures. Those who rate the website high in message strength would
seek additional information from convention and visitor bureaus. If message strength rates
low, presentations and shows about the destination are seen as valuable additional
information sources.
Implications and research limitations
DMO websites are hybrid marketing systems (Moriarty and Moran, 1990) which make use of
numerous communicative functions. This research con?rms that credibility and message
strength are two distinctive dimensions to evaluate communication, and also indicates
website elements that both add to and detract from a tourism website’s credibility. This
research also provides insight into how potential tourists rank website elements in terms of
recall, usefulness and credibility (both positively and negatively). Although 20 different
website elements are listed for ranking purposes, respondents recall only six on average.
These six elements concern information on basic subjects such as accommodations,
destination descriptions and attractions. Although, from previous ?ndings, more novel and
objective elements such as news media comments, testimonials, web cams, e-cards and
message boards, are expected to rank higher on credibility, they do not.
In summary, the results of this study support the importance of message credibility and
message strength, and that both may have an impact on change of propensity to visit. It also
points out new information about website elements. From a list of 20 website parts,
information on the basic elements of accommodations and attractions are regarded as
having the most affect on the overall message credibility of websites.
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Practical implications
Practical marketing implications emerge from this study. One is that, when it comes to
developing a website, marketers should concentrate on basic elements such as destination
descriptions, and information on accommodations and attractions. In fact, accommodations
and attractions information are the only contents signi?cantly impacting on credibility
judgments. Information on restaurants, calendars of events, destination descriptions and
maps may also aid in increasing overall site credibility and, thus, aid in change of propensity
to visit.
This research suggests that funds and energy for more novel website elements such as web
cams, guest books, message boards and e-cards may not be worth the effort when it comes
to increasing visitation. The focus should ?rst be on credible, basic elements. If basic
information on accommodations and attractions is credible, potential tourists may have all
the information they need to decide on a visit. If the basic elements lack credibility, potential
visitors will continue information seeking and can be diverted to other destinations.
Limitations
This research is subject to several major limitations. Using actual potential tourists who
choose to visit a website for preparing a trip could generate different responses than a
substantially student population in an experimental setting who are randomly assigned a
destination. This study shows limits in its focus by investigating only three main dependent
variables. Destination selection, a high risk decision, likely involves an unknown quantity of
factors. Lastly, this study does not measure real behavior, but instead assesses change in
propensity to visit. From a research standpoint, purchase intent scales have been more
widely used and reported, and measuring actual behavior outranks intent for rigor.
Suggestions for further research
Some of the literature on website credibility concludes that design can affect a website’s
trustworthiness. Questions related to design are not a part of this study and could be an
important part of future research. Attitude toward the destination and prior knowledge are
important to destination selection, and are usually treated as dependent variables. Because
potential tourists do not exist in a bubble, studying attitude and prior knowledge as
intervening variables would be a valuable addition to the literature (Perdue, 2001). Also, the
internet is a popular medium among travelers, but it is not a part of Gartner’s credibility
typology. Research is warranted to see if tourists rate websites as induced or organic
message agents.
Tourism is a unique and high risk service industry. CTO/DMOs need effective and ef?cient
marketing investments. In the marketplace, many sources can persuade consumers toward
potential tourism destinations, fromconversations with friends and family, to internet website
exposure. According to this study, tourism websites vary signi?cantly in their
persuasiveness. Marketers wishing to affect a change in propensity to visit their
destinations may want to pay particular attention to basic website elements. Basic
elements impact website credibility, and this credibility may result in a decision to visit, or a
need to continue the information search.
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Corresponding author
Marsha D. Loda can be contacted at: [email protected]
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This article has been cited by:
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doc_145041804.pdf
The purpose of this research is to help tourism marketers maximize the persuasiveness of
their websites toward the objective of increasing visitation to their destination
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Destination websites' persuasiveness
Marsha D. Loda Karin Teichmann Andreas H. Zins
Article information:
To cite this document:
Marsha D. Loda Karin Teichmann Andreas H. Zins, (2009),"Destination websites' persuasiveness", International J ournal of Culture,
Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 3 Iss 1 pp. 70 - 80
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Destination websites’ persuasiveness
Marsha D. Loda, Karin Teichmann and Andreas H. Zins
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this research is to help tourism marketers maximize the persuasiveness of
their websites toward the objective of increasing visitation to their destination.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes a two-part research project: a content analysis
of websites to determine the most frequently used elements; and an experiment wherein respondents
view one of ten randomly assigned websites and complete a survey about the credibility, message
strength, and persuasiveness of that site.
Findings – Results support the importance of message credibility to message strength, and that both
may impact on change of propensity to visit a destination. It also points out new information about
website elements. While more organic website elements such as testimonials and web cams are
expected to affect the most change, they do not. Rather, information on fundamental elements such as
accommodations and attractions has the most effect on message credibility, and on respondents’
change in propensity to visit a destination.
Originality/value – Substantial differences exist in the persuasiveness of various tourism websites.
Website elements concerning basic information seem to induce the most positive changes. Therefore,
funds and energy to develop and maintain novel website elements such as web cams, guest books,
message boards and e-cards may not be worth the effort when it comes to increasing visitation.
Keywords Tourism, Worldwide web
Paper type Research paper
P
ersuasion is the act of convincing others to think, feel or do what we want (Perloff,
1993). In the marketplace, consumers are persuaded toward potential tourism
destinations through various means including interpersonal conversations with
friends and family and by advertising and publicity in the mass media. However, travelers
today are increasingly turning to the internet as an information source.
Background
As people increasingly use the internet for destination information, tourismproviders need to
understand how to maximize the persuasiveness of their websites. Research on information
sources signi?cantly links the credibility of information to purchase intent (Loda et al., 2007).
Prior knowledge is suspected to affect the ability to process information, and to discriminate
relevant from irrelevant information during a web information search (Cho, 2001). Further
research into website credibility suggests that observable signals, such as production and
design elements, enhance trust in a site (Schlosser et al., 2006).
The issue of credibility
In addition to design, other research concludes that a good interface and ease of use,
including menus to organize information, enhance the credibility of a commercial site
(Wathen and Burkell, 2002). To aid in website credibility, Wathen and Burkell argue for
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VOL. 3 NO. 1 2009, pp. 70-80, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/17506180910940351
Marsha D. Loda is based at
Augusta State University,
Augusta, Georgia, USA.
Karin Teichmann and
Andreas H. Zins are both
based at Vienna University
of Economics and Business
Administration, Vienna,
Austria.
Received June 2007
Revised March 2008
Accepted June 2008
The authors thank Barbara
Carrick Coleman, associate
dean of the Hull College of
Business at Augusta State
University, for proo?ng and
commenting about this paper.
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presenting institutional or individual credentials, quality rating awards, links to other credible
websites and using a URL suf?x denoting an educational, nonpro?t or governmental
designation. An online study of over 1,400 respondents ?nds seven factors that affect
people’s perception of credibility: real-world feel, ease of use, expertise, trustworthiness and
tailoring (Fogg et al., 2001). In contrast, two elements hurt credibility: commercial
implications and amateurism.
In comparing the internet as a source to other media, Flanagin and Metzger (2000) report
that, overall, respondents consider internet information to be as credible as information from
other mass media, except newspapers. However, credibility varies depending on the types
of information sought such as reference, news, entertainment, and commercial information.
Research speci?c to travel information is not proli?c. A study by Chen (2006) offers
information consistent with ?ndings from the broader marketplace. Chen concludes design
(physical appearance, color, layout, graphics), functionality, usability, ef?ciency, reliability
and likeability are elements that signi?cantly in?uence trust in a tourism website.
Satitkit and Everett (2001) analyze many travel agent websites in New Zealand ranging in
complexity from a simple presence to fully developed e-commerce sites. The ?ndings show
that travel agents need to improve their websites’ ease of use and design. To enhance trust
with website users, designers should link to other sites with relevant information.
Research is lacking in the speci?c elements of a travel website that contribute to
persuasiveness. Credibility is critical due to the intangible nature of the tourism product and
the economic and psychological risk associated with destination selection. Moroson and
Fesenmaier (2007) consider information quality and credibility as hygiene features within
their persuasive architecture of tourism websites, and call for further studies testing their
propositions empirically and in a comprehensive manner.
The impact of credibility
Credibility is a key component of persuasive communication in general. O’Keefe (1990, p.
130) de?nes credibility as ‘‘judgments made by a perceiver (e.g., a message recipient)
concerning the believability of a communicator’’. Overall, theorists generally agree that two
dimensions are key to source credibility (McCroskey and Teven, 1999). One dimension is
competence (i.e. quali?cation, expertness, intelligence, authoritativeness), and the other is
trustworthiness (i.e. character, sagacity, safety, honesty).
Credibility is especially important in tourism. Research shows that intangible, expensive
service purchases such as travel involve both ?nancial and emotional risk (Fisk et al., 2000).
Generally, consumers acquire information as a risk reduction strategy. The more reliable or
credible the information, the lower the perceived risk (Vogt and Fesenmaier, 1998).
Source credibility is a recurring theme in studies concerning effective communication and
tourism image creation. Gunn (1972) relates credibility with the different ways in which
people form cognitive images. He argues that images are formed through induced and
organic agents. Induced images are a function of marketing efforts and destination
promoters. Organic images come from unbiased sources, and are not directly associated
with a destination. The key difference between organic and induced image formation
agents, Gunn argues, is the control the destination area has over what is presented.
However, whether internet sites are perceived by potential tourists as induced or organic
sources in undetermined.
Cho (2001, p. v) examines the credibility of information sources in tourists’ information
search behavior, along with the role of prior knowledge and need for information. In this
study, respondents rate ten information sources, ranging from their own experience to
magazines, newspapers and the internet, on a scale of 1 (not at all credible) to 7 (very
credible). Results reveal that ‘‘the credibility of sources was found to have the most crucial
in?uence on the selection and use of the source, compared with the effects of prior
knowledge and need for information’’. While one’s own experience and information from
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friends and family rate as most credible respectively, the internet ranks as the most credible
external information source.
In their study, Kim and Fesenmaier (2007) test the in?uence of six factors on the ?rst
impression (in terms of favorableness) of ?fty of?cial state tourism websites in the United
States. Only inspiration, usability, and credibility perceptions show signi?cant evidence to
impact on a DMO websites’ persuasiveness.
Yoo et al. (2007) examine source characteristics in e-word-of-mouth. Their experimental
study suggests that authority cues increase credibility perceptions and local residents’
recommendations. Potential tourists also see cues regarding source characteristics as
important.
Concerning the effects of advertising and publicity on destination selection, Loda et al.
(2007) report that publicity is more credible than advertising, and that publicity more
positively impacts on message strength and purchase intent.
Reasoned action and elaboration
Much research exists concerning how consumers process information. Researchers
examining this issue often use the expectancy-value (EV) theory of Ajzen and Fishbein
(1980). This is a model of reasoned behavior or central route processing (as described in the
Elaboration Likelihood Model) wherein consumers carefully consider message content
(Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). In these cases, the success of persuasive communications
depends on the degree to which consumers accept message claims (Smith and Vogt,
1995). Factors that in?uence message acceptance include perceived credibility and
message strength (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980).
The ELM is often the foundation for research in tourism. Manfredo’s (1992) work on
in?uencing human behavior is widely cited in the leisure and tourism ?eld. He uses the ELM,
among others, to help explain why persuasive attempts to in?uence the public often fail or
meet with marginal success. The ELMis also a framework in exploring individual differences
among people’s attitudes toward holidays and novelty seeking (Crotts, 1992).
Hypotheses
This study addresses issues of importance to both the tourism and marketing ?elds. Of
particular signi?cance is the issue of credibility to both message strength and acceptance,
which is reported to lead to higher beliefs, improved attitude toward the destination and then
to purchase intent. Credibility is critical due to the intangible nature of the tourism product
and the risk associated with destination selection. The current study suggests that for the
message in a website to persuade, or to have enough strength to lead to a change in
purchase intent, it must ?rst have credibility before it will be accepted by the consumer.
Accordingly, this research examines the persuasive effects of websites on the effectiveness
of marketing a tourist destination. Speci?cally this research attempts to test:
B whether there is a difference between the persuasiveness of tourism sites and the role
that credibility plays; and
B to identify which content elements of the website may be most in?uential.
Dependent variables include perceived credibility, message strength, and purchase intent
(change of propensity to visit). Website elements are also included as intervening variables.
The study proposes six speci?c hypotheses are (see Figure 1).
H1. Websites vary in their persuasive effect on respondents.
H2. Websites differ in their levels of message credibility.
H2a. Websites with high levels of message credibility have common elements that rate
higher on credibility than others.
H3. Websites contain differing levels of message strength.
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H4. Change in propensity to visit vary by website.
H5. Websites will have common elements that rate high on recall, credibility and
usefulness.
H6. Higher website persuasiveness results in a reduced need for information outside
the internet.
Method
Two parts comprise the methodology for this study: a content analysis and an experiment. A
content analysis of city tourism organizations/destination marketing organizations
(CTO/DMO) websites determines content elements that are most commonly used. For the
experimental portion, a convenience sample of 219 American college students and 175
travel interested people from Europe view one of ten randomly assigned websites and
answer questions. Respondents then rate 20 speci?c website elements, ranging from
restaurant information and calendars of events to testimonials and message boards, for
recall, credibility and usefulness.
Destination selection
For the content analysis, respondents analyze 60 of?cial websites of CTO/DMOs to compile
a comprehensive list of common content elements; the 20 most common are incorporated
into the questionnaire. For the experiment, nine websites are selected from the 60
CTO/DMOs comprising the content analysis. The nine sites represent major city tourism
destinations in Europe and the USA (according to Travel and Leisure, www.travelandleisure.
com/worldsbest/2006). Primarily well-known destinations are selected to add a degree of
veracity to the experimental setting. The experiment includes ten sites; the island of Aruba is
added as an expected best practice example.
Study variables and scale development
Ten Destination Marketing Organization (CTO/DMO) websites comprise the stimulus and
independent variable of this study. The three major dependent variables are message
strength, perceived credibility, and purchase intent.
Perceived credibility measures contain three Likert-type scales asking howtruthful, accurate
and credible the stimulus is to the respondent. These measures, by Darley and Smith (1993)
and Smith and Hunt (1978), use a seven-point scale, and the responses are averaged to
generate the perceived credibility statistic.
Message strength measures consist of a three-item scale by Miniard et al. (1990) and Petty
et al. (1983). This Likert-type scale asks respondents to rate message claims from weak
(23) to strong (þ3).
Figure 1 Study framework
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To assess purchase intent, a seven-point Likert-type scale asks respondents if they
experience any change in likelihood to visit the destination after exposure to the destination’s
website. Responses range from no change (1) to changed a lot (7).
To assess website elements for recall, credibility and usefulness, respondents see a list of
the 20 most commonly used elements from the content analysis. To measure recall,
respondents check all elements they remember seeing on the website. Next, from the list of
elements they recall, respondents rate two elements highest in terms of credibility, and
select two elements to rate lowest in credibility. For usefulness, participants rate each
website element on a seven-point scale ranging from very useful to not at all useful.
Data collection procedures
A computer program randomly assigns three hundred ninety four subjects (219 American
college students and 175 travel interested people from Europe) to the ten treatment groups.
In keeping with the procedures of Smith and Vogt (1995) and Loda et al. (2007), a cover
page asks subjects to read instructions carefully, spend as much time as they need to view
the stimulus, and then proceed through the questionnaire. To create reasonably high
processing involvement, instructions advise subjects to ‘‘consider yourself a person who
has saved their funds, and now has the time and money to take a vacation this summer’’.
Respondents are instructed to visit the site, forman evaluation of the destination, and answer
some questions about the destination at the end. Each participant signs onto a website with
these instructions, a direct link to the stimulus site, and survey questions. Subjects answer if
they visited their assigned travel destination before; those with prior experience are
eliminated from the analysis.
Analysis and results
Following the experiment, researchers enter data in SPSS 15, perform a MANOVA to assess
variables simultaneously, then look for areas of signi?cance using a series of one-way
ANOVAs. Discriminant analysis is used to assess website elements. Signi?cance is
measured at 0.05.
Pro?le of respondents
Respondents are between 16 and 65 years old, with an average age of 26 (75 percent are
younger than 27); 52 percent are female. Concerning ethnicity, 81 percent indicate a
Caucasian origin, 9 percent are African American, 1 percent is Hispanic or Latin American,
and 2 percent report an Asian or Paci?c Island origin. On average, respondents travel quite
frequently with 3.7 trips a year; 10 percent report no travel at all, while 30 percent report
taking 1 or 2 trips a year, and 35 percent take 3 or 4 annual trips. Due to the random
assignment of destinations, each of the 10 CTO/DMOs initially has an equal frequency of
about 40 respondents. After eliminating the personal experience effect, the frequency for the
destinations is skewed: New York (17), London (19), Chicago (35), Budapest (40), and
Madrid (41). Overall, 46 percent of the destinations symbolize short or medium distance
trips, while the remaining 54 percent represent long distance travel.
Results of content analysis
The average exposure time, including the answering of the questionnaire, is about 15
minutes. After the website inspection, respondents check those content elements they can
recall. On average almost six elements are marked. This recall volume is slightly in?uenced
by exposure time (R
2
¼ 0:037). The main effect may rely on the visual attractiveness and
other communicative functions. Respondents most frequently recall website information on
attractions, restaurants, destination descriptions, accommodations, shopping, calendars of
events, and maps. Web-cams, testimonials, guest books, message boards, evaluation or
comment areas and e-cards (elements the Aruba site uses) rate lowest on recall.
Each respondent then ranks recalled website elements as very high or very low in credibility
(see Table I). Again, information about attractions ranks highest followed by information
about restaurants and accommodations, calendars of events and destination descriptions.
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Website elements expressing dominant low credibility concern shopping, search functions,
information request options, testimonials, and guest book and traveler forum entries.
For usefulness, three content areas rank high: maps, accommodation and attraction
information. In contrast, e-cards, guest books and web-cams, rate lowest in terms of
usefulness.
Testing of H1 – Persuasive affect of DMO websites
MANOVA allows the analysis of a set of dependent measures across a group formed by one
or more independent measures. In the present study, MANOVA assesses the dependent
variables (message credibility, message strength, change in purchase intent)
simultaneously as a process, as happens when a person is exposed to a stimulus such
as an advertisement or an internet site.
H1 states that websites vary in their effect on respondents. The multivariate procedure
indicates a signi?cant overall group difference among the dependent vector in the current
study (Wilks’ Lambda ¼ 0:78, F ¼ 2:60, p , 0.01). The ?ndings support H1. Not all websites
are equally persuasive; they vary signi?cantly in their effect on respondents. Additional
analyses determine where the differences are for each dependent variable.
Perceived credibility
H2 states websites differ in their levels of message credibility. Descriptive statistics for
treatment groups average M ¼ 4:9, SD ¼ 1:02, and range from a low for Los Angeles
(M ¼ 4:5, SD ¼ 0:84) to a high for Rome (M ¼ 5:4, SD ¼ 0:72). A one-way ANOVA compares
these means and tests statistical differences. The F-test (F ¼ 2:46, df ¼ 9) indicates a
signi?cant in?uence ( p , 0.05). Three of the between group comparisons reveal signi?cant
differences, as depicted in Table II. These differences are between Los Angeles and Rome,
Los Angeles and Chicago and Los Angeles and London.
The analysis supports H2. Websites differ signi?cantly in their levels of message credibility.
In this experiment, Rome, Chicago and London generate signi?cantly higher levels of
message credibility than does Los Angeles.
Table I Recalled website elements and their credibility and perceived usefulness
Credibility
Website elements n ¼ Recall (%) High Low Usefulness
attractions 213 76 33 13 1.8
restaurants 179 64 20 17 2.3
destination descriptions 167 60 18 14 2
accommodation 163 58 20 16 1.8
shop 128 46 8 15 2.9
calendar of events 121 43 19 4 2.2
maps 121 43 17 3 1.7
search functions 104 37 5 8 2.8
reservation 101 36 6 7 2.4
public transportation 98 35 8 8 2.3
information request/order 65 23 2 6 2.4
car rental 50 18 3 4 2.5
news 42 15 3 5 3.3
traveler forum 35 13 0 5 3.2
web-cams 17 6 1 1 4.5
testimonials 14 5 0 3 3.1
guest book 13 5 1 3 4.3
message board 13 5 1 2 3.3
evaluation/comments 13 5 0 2 3.2
e-cards 11 4 0 1 3.9
Note: Usefulness measured on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 ‘‘very useful’’ to 7 ‘‘not at all useful’’
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Credibility and website elements
This extension to H2 states that websites with high levels of credibility will have common
elements that are rated high on credibility. To test this, 20 web elements in the survey are
recoded from a selection process (check two) to pseudo-metric data ranging fromþ1 (high
credibility), 21 (low credibility) or 0 (item not selected from the high or low credibility list).
For the analysis, overall website credibility is classi?ed into three similar levels of þ1 to 21.
Websites from London, Paris, Rome and Chicago rate high; rated low are Budapest, Los
Angeles and Las Vegas. Madrid, New York, and Aruba rate medium on credibility.
Discriminant analysis ?rst fails in investigating the credibility of speci?c website elements.
However, after eliminating the medium group to run an extreme group comparison, two
elements contribute to the grouping of credible informational website elements:
accommodations and attractions (Wilks’ Lambda ¼ 0:95, p , 0.01).
Discriminant analysis for recalled elements shows positive effects for restaurants, public
transportation and testimonials, but negative effects for evaluation and comment areas and
web-cams. For useful elements, public transportation, reservation and shop facilities are
positive, while car rental, e-cards, and information requests show negative effects.
Message strength
H3 states that CTO/DMOs differ in the levels of message strength their websites generate.
Descriptive statistics for treatment groups average M ¼ 5:22, SD ¼ 1:36, and range from a
low for Budapest (M ¼ 4:6, SD ¼ 1:79) to a high for Chicago (M ¼ 5:8, SD ¼ 0:82). The
F-test (F ¼ 4:77, df ¼ 9) indicates a signi?cant in?uence ( p , 0.05).
In post hoc tests, ?ve of the between group comparisons reveal signi?cant differences, as
Table III depicts. These differences are between Madrid and three other DMOs: London,
Rome and Chicago; and between Chicago and Budapest as well as Chicago and Los
Angeles.
According to this evidence, H3 is supported. Websites differ signi?cantly in the levels of
message strength they generate. In this experiment, the websites for Rome, Chicago and
London generate signi?cantly higher levels of message strength than the sites for Los
Angeles, Budapest or Madrid.
Purchase intent (change of propensity to visit)
H4 states that change in propensity to visit varies by website exposure. A seven-item scale
asks about change in propensity to visit following exposure to the website. Descriptive
statistics for treatment groups average M ¼ 2:7, SD ¼ 1:70, and range from a low for Las
Table II Result of treatment groups with signi?cance on perceived credibility
Treatment Treatment group Mean difference Standard error p
Los Angeles Rome 20.930 0.215 0.003
Chicago 20.779 0.213 0.022
London 0.795 0.195 0.007
Table III Result of treatment groups with signi?cance on message strength
Treatment Treatment group Mean difference Standard error p
Madrid London 20.998 0.292 0.048
Rome 20.995 0.290 0.048
Chicago 20.925 0.264 0.001
Chicago Budapest 1.27 0.306 0.005
Los Angeles 1.13 0.277 0.008
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Vegas (M ¼ 2:03, SD ¼ 1:31) to a high for Chicago (M ¼ 3:1, SD ¼ 0:18). The F-test at the
treatment level of 10 DMOs fails to pass the usual signi?cance level. Relaxing the treatment
condition and exploiting the variance prevailing within a particular DMO website evaluation,
however, yields signi?cant and positive correlations. Correlation coef?cients between
change in propensity to visit are r ¼ 0:16 for website credibility and r ¼ 0:24 for message
strength.
Therefore, research partially supports H4. Evidence concludes that websites differ in
generating a change in the propensity to visit a destination following exposure to a website,
but the change appears to be a weak one.
Website element commonality
H5 states websites have common elements that rate high on recall, credibility and
usefulness. The ?ndings support H5. Respondents most frequently recall website elements
enforcing message strength in association with attractions, restaurants, and traveler forums.
The same elements that respondents rate as very useful in the trip preparation phase also
contribute to a higher perception of message strength. Concerning credibility, only
accommodation information shows a positive effect.
Persuasiveness and need for further information
H6 states that higher website persuasiveness result in a reduced need for information
outside the internet. Research also supports this hypothesis. Two groups of respondents are
distinguished: those who need additional information for planning their trip and those who
are satis?ed with the information on the DMO website.
Respondents indicating not needing any additional information to prepare for their trip
perceive the website to be more credible (t 2value ¼ 3:01, p , 0.01) and are associated
with higher message strength (t 2value ¼ 4:89, p , 0.01). They also recall 13 percent more
elements from their website visit.
For those who need further information, the source of information they would seek varies by
attitude toward the website. Those who perceive the website to have low credibility would
seek information from online travel forums, friends and relatives, and hotel or
accommodation brochures. Those who rate the website high in message strength would
seek additional information from convention and visitor bureaus. If message strength rates
low, presentations and shows about the destination are seen as valuable additional
information sources.
Implications and research limitations
DMO websites are hybrid marketing systems (Moriarty and Moran, 1990) which make use of
numerous communicative functions. This research con?rms that credibility and message
strength are two distinctive dimensions to evaluate communication, and also indicates
website elements that both add to and detract from a tourism website’s credibility. This
research also provides insight into how potential tourists rank website elements in terms of
recall, usefulness and credibility (both positively and negatively). Although 20 different
website elements are listed for ranking purposes, respondents recall only six on average.
These six elements concern information on basic subjects such as accommodations,
destination descriptions and attractions. Although, from previous ?ndings, more novel and
objective elements such as news media comments, testimonials, web cams, e-cards and
message boards, are expected to rank higher on credibility, they do not.
In summary, the results of this study support the importance of message credibility and
message strength, and that both may have an impact on change of propensity to visit. It also
points out new information about website elements. From a list of 20 website parts,
information on the basic elements of accommodations and attractions are regarded as
having the most affect on the overall message credibility of websites.
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Practical implications
Practical marketing implications emerge from this study. One is that, when it comes to
developing a website, marketers should concentrate on basic elements such as destination
descriptions, and information on accommodations and attractions. In fact, accommodations
and attractions information are the only contents signi?cantly impacting on credibility
judgments. Information on restaurants, calendars of events, destination descriptions and
maps may also aid in increasing overall site credibility and, thus, aid in change of propensity
to visit.
This research suggests that funds and energy for more novel website elements such as web
cams, guest books, message boards and e-cards may not be worth the effort when it comes
to increasing visitation. The focus should ?rst be on credible, basic elements. If basic
information on accommodations and attractions is credible, potential tourists may have all
the information they need to decide on a visit. If the basic elements lack credibility, potential
visitors will continue information seeking and can be diverted to other destinations.
Limitations
This research is subject to several major limitations. Using actual potential tourists who
choose to visit a website for preparing a trip could generate different responses than a
substantially student population in an experimental setting who are randomly assigned a
destination. This study shows limits in its focus by investigating only three main dependent
variables. Destination selection, a high risk decision, likely involves an unknown quantity of
factors. Lastly, this study does not measure real behavior, but instead assesses change in
propensity to visit. From a research standpoint, purchase intent scales have been more
widely used and reported, and measuring actual behavior outranks intent for rigor.
Suggestions for further research
Some of the literature on website credibility concludes that design can affect a website’s
trustworthiness. Questions related to design are not a part of this study and could be an
important part of future research. Attitude toward the destination and prior knowledge are
important to destination selection, and are usually treated as dependent variables. Because
potential tourists do not exist in a bubble, studying attitude and prior knowledge as
intervening variables would be a valuable addition to the literature (Perdue, 2001). Also, the
internet is a popular medium among travelers, but it is not a part of Gartner’s credibility
typology. Research is warranted to see if tourists rate websites as induced or organic
message agents.
Tourism is a unique and high risk service industry. CTO/DMOs need effective and ef?cient
marketing investments. In the marketplace, many sources can persuade consumers toward
potential tourism destinations, fromconversations with friends and family, to internet website
exposure. According to this study, tourism websites vary signi?cantly in their
persuasiveness. Marketers wishing to affect a change in propensity to visit their
destinations may want to pay particular attention to basic website elements. Basic
elements impact website credibility, and this credibility may result in a decision to visit, or a
need to continue the information search.
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Vogt, C. and Fesenmaier, D. (1998), ‘‘Expanding the functional information search model’’, Annals of
Tourism Research, Vol. 25, pp. 551-78.
Wathen, C.N. and Burkell, J. (2002), ‘‘Believe it or not: Factors in?uencing credibility on the Web’’,
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 53 No. 2, pp. 134-44.
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Further reading
Bright, A.D., Manfredo, M.J., Fishbein, M. and Bath, A. (1993), ‘‘Application of the theory of reasoned
action to the National Park Service’s controlled burn polity’’, Journal of Leisure Research, Vol. 25,
pp. 263-80.
Brown, T.J. (1999), ‘‘Antecedents of culturally signi?cant tourist behavior’’, Annals of Tourism Research,
Vol. 26, pp. 676-700.
Buttle, F., Bok, B.W. and Bok, B.K. (1996), ‘‘Hotel marketing strategy and the theory of reasoned action’’,
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 8, pp. 5-10.
Fishbein, M. and Ajzen, I. (1980), ‘‘Predicting and understanding consumer behavior: attitude-behavior
correspondence’’, in Ajzen, I. and Fishbein, M. (Eds), Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social
Behavior, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 148-72.
Gartner, W.C. (1993), ‘‘Image formation process’’, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2,
pp. 191-215.
Kim, S.I. (1991), ‘‘An understanding of lettering behavior in natural recreation areas: use of the theory of
reasoned action’’, Journal of Korean Forestry Society, Vol. 80, pp. 20-31.
Loda, M. and Coleman, B. (2005), ‘‘Sequence matters: a more effective way to use advertising and
publicity’’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 45 No. 4, pp. 362-72.
Corresponding author
Marsha D. Loda can be contacted at: [email protected]
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