Tourist Behavior in the Post-Digital Era: The Influence of Online Reviews and Sentiment on Travel Decision-Making
Keywords:
Online reviews, Sentiment analysis, Tourist behavior, Decision-making, eWOMAbstract
Background:
Increasing dependence on digital platforms has significantly transformed tourist decision-making, with online reviews emerging as a critical source of information. This study examines the influence of review ratings and sentiment on tourist behavioral outcomes using a secondary dataset from an open-source platform.
Methods:
A quantitative approach was employed, incorporating descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression to assess relationships between variables such as review rating, sentiment score, recommendation likelihood, and visit frequency.
Results:
The results indicate that both review rating and sentiment significantly influence decision-making; however, sentiment demonstrates a stronger predictive effect. Specifically, sentiment shows a higher correlation with recommendation likelihood (r = 0.68) compared to review ratings (r = 0.61), highlighting the greater importance of emotional content. Regression analysis further confirms that sentiment (β = 0.51, p < 0.001) exerts a stronger influence than ratings (β = 0.29, p < 0.001) on behavioral outcomes.
Conclusion:
These findings suggest that tourists rely more on emotionally rich and descriptive feedback rather than purely numerical evaluations when making travel decisions. The study contributes to the understanding of digital consumer behavior by emphasizing the role of sentiment in shaping trust, engagement, and decision-making, while offering practical insights for tourism marketers and online platforms to enhance user experience and influence customer choices.
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