Information processing of travel barrage reviews: effects of social presence and opinion leaders on the relationship between barrage reviews and travel intention

Abstract

ABSTRACT Barrage as an emerging type of user-generated review has been adopted by almost all tourism live-streaming platforms. However, few studies have been conducted to understand how travel barrage review attributes affect travel intention (TI). This study adopts a mixed method to examine the effectiveness of the content and form attributes of travel barrage reviews in influencing potential tourists’ travel intentions. Two studies jointly revealed that potential tourists were more willing to adopt the central path to process barrage content, while perceived trust and usefulness played mediating roles. Conversely, potential tourists were more willing to adopt the peripheral path to process barrage form when social presence played a mediating role. Furthermore, the moderating effect of opinion leaders on the relationship between barrage reviews and changing TI was considered. This study extended previous work in the online travel reviews field and provided guidance to tourism practitioners on how to engage in live-streaming marketing.