Trustworthiness Of User-Generated Content In Travel Planning Decisions Of Tourists

Abstract

User-generated content (UGC) and its role in travel planning have become increasingly popular and essential. There is plenty of research focusing on the role of UGC in travel planning, and they confirm that UGC has an impact on the travel planning decisions of tourists. However, a few have pointed out whether tourists trust these UGC websites while making their travel decisions and how much they trust these websites. This study seeks to address these two issues. The data were collected from 111 respondents through an online questionnaire survey method and the sample of the study belong to four major cities of Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur). Using quantitative analytics, researchers identified the three measures of trustworthiness of UGC, namely usefulness, reliability and credibility. There are some challenges to the study as it could only consider the three variables that are usefulness, reliability and credibility also it has not taken into account the income and education level of the respondents. The study has managerial implications by helping managers know the factors that can affect the UGC's trustworthiness as it plays an essential role in travel planning decisions. It also gives future research directions based on empirical evidence.