Towards understanding members' general participation in and active contribution to an online travel community

    Authors

    Y. C. Wang;D. R. Fesenmaier

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Tourism Manage.

    Keywords

    online travel community; member needs; motivation; tourism marketing; STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELS; Environmental Studies; Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism; Management

    Abstract

    Online travel community has been considered central to models of Internet marketing and electronic commerce in the travel industry. The successful operation of an online travel community depends on the understanding of member participation in and active contribution to the online travel community. This study evaluates an integrated model of an online travel community using structural equation modeling. The results of the study indicate that participation in the travel community is driven mainly by social and hedonic benefits, while level of active contribution can be explained by three instrumental, efficacy, and expectancy related incentives. Implications for the development of a dynamic and sustainable online travel community are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Tourism Management

    Volume

    25

    Issue/Number

    6

    Publication Date

    1-1-2004

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    709

    Last Page

    722

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000224631900006

    ISSN

    0261-5177

    Share

    COinS