The Effect of Online Travel Reviews (OTR) on Travellers' Decision Regarding Tourist Attraction Choice: The Case of TripAdvisor

The purpose of this study is to investigate how travellers adopt information from travel review websites, i.e., Tripadvisor and how online travel reviews (OTRs) influence their intention to visit a tourist attraction. Based on the information adoption model (IAM), a conceptual model was developed to measure the impact of relevant factors on information adoption of online travel reviews as well as the tourist attraction visit intention of travellers. The model was empirically tested using the data obtained from 227 valid respondents who read online travel reviews on Tripadvisor before choosing a tourist attraction. The partial Least Squares Structure Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach using SmartPLS 3 was used to test the relationships in the suggested model. The results revealed that argument quality, source credibility and needs of information have positive influences on information usefulness, which in turn predicts information adoption and attitudes towards information. The results also show a significant positive impact of imitating others on information adoption. Finally, the study confirms that travellers' intention to visit a tourist attraction is positively influenced by information adoption and attitudes towards information. Various stakeholders of online travel review platforms (i.e., Tripadvisor) can benefit from the findings of this study.