Meghan Reitz

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Cottrell, Catherine

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Few studies have focused on the use of online reviews for travel related decisions to an unknown destination. The aim of the current study was to examine whether the tone of online reviews could be used to influence visit intentions. Participants were randomly assigned to an experience based attraction or an observation based attraction on the island of Mauritius. Participants were also randomly assigned to a review condition (positive, negative, no reviews or mixed reviews). Lastly participants evaluated the information they previously read in terms of intention to visit the attraction, trust in the reviews, perceived helpfulness of the reviews and provided demographic information. The hypotheses predicted that when participants were exposed to positive reviews then they would express a higher intention to visit for both attractions. Conversely when participants read negative reviews they would be less likely to express intention to visit for both attractions. The participants in the mixed review condition would rate the reviews as more trustworthy and helpful because they received two-sided information. Analysis revealed a significant interaction between review condition and attraction condition for interest. These results indicate that interest depended on the review condition and attraction condition participants were placed in. Further research needs to attempt to control the nuances associated with the way participants interact with online reviews.

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