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The Formation of a Tourist Destination's Image via Information Sources: the Moderating Effect of Culture
Author(s) -
Frías Dolores M.,
Rodríguez Miguel A.,
Alberto Castañeda J.,
Sabiote Carmen M.,
Buhalis Dimitrios
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of tourism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.155
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1522-1970
pISSN - 1099-2340
DOI - 10.1002/jtr.870
Subject(s) - tourism , destination image , multiculturalism , sample (material) , marketing , advertising , moderation , business , the internet , selection (genetic algorithm) , psychology , geography , destinations , social psychology , computer science , world wide web , pedagogy , chemistry , archaeology , chromatography , artificial intelligence
The present study aims to outline the growing importance of culture in the field of tourism. More specifically, it highlights culture as a moderating variable in pre‐visit tourist destination image formation, through the information sources utilized by the tourist in the selection of a holiday destination (that is, travel agencies alone vs. travel agencies together with the Internet). For this purpose primary research used a multicultural sample of 371 tourists from different European countries. The results show that the formation of a destination's pre‐visit image amongst tourists, based on the information sources they use, is moderated by the level of uncertainty‐avoidance of their national cultures. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.