Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Yi Xuan Ong is a first year Doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of International Media, Communications and Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University. Her current research focus includes: social media influencer destination marketing, online travel information behavior, self-congruity and generation difference of consumers of the digital age.

Naoya Ito is a Professor in the Research Faculty of Media and Communications at Hokkaido University.

Si Ru Li is a second year Master student in the Graduate School of International Media, Communications and Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University.

Tao Sun is a second year PhD Candidate in the Graduate School of International Media, Communications and Tourism Studies. His research interests are risk perceptions on online travel information consumption, and destination trust.

Abstract (150 Words)

The self-congruity theory has often been applied in the tourism industry. Yet, it has not been used to examine consumers’ travel information processing. This study aims to explore the effects of self-congruity on consumers’ online travel review processing by integrating it with the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Results collected from a web-based survey in Singapore illustrated that self-congruity contributed significantly as a predictor of argument quality and source credibility. Particularly, reviewer-self-congruity having a strong effect on source credibility of online travel reviews. This study elucidates that Singaporean consumers are inclined to take a two-step information elaboration process: first forming self-congruence with a reviewer to achieve clearance via source credibility, before evaluating the review as useful after scrutinizing based on argument quality. This study suggests Online Travel Agents (OTAs) to provide more reviewer information or leverage on expert sources to increase confidence within consumers for positive online travel review processing.

Download

Share

COinS
 

Review or the Reviewer? Effects of Self-Congruity in Processing Online Travel Review

The self-congruity theory has often been applied in the tourism industry. Yet, it has not been used to examine consumers’ travel information processing. This study aims to explore the effects of self-congruity on consumers’ online travel review processing by integrating it with the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Results collected from a web-based survey in Singapore illustrated that self-congruity contributed significantly as a predictor of argument quality and source credibility. Particularly, reviewer-self-congruity having a strong effect on source credibility of online travel reviews. This study elucidates that Singaporean consumers are inclined to take a two-step information elaboration process: first forming self-congruence with a reviewer to achieve clearance via source credibility, before evaluating the review as useful after scrutinizing based on argument quality. This study suggests Online Travel Agents (OTAs) to provide more reviewer information or leverage on expert sources to increase confidence within consumers for positive online travel review processing.