An integrated measure of eWOM usefulness in the leisure travel: conceptualisation, scale development, and validation

ABSTRACT

Internet access and social media led to an astronomical spike in eWOM. Tourism is an information-intensive industry, and travelers frequently use eWOM for travel decisions. Nevertheless, there is a lack of an integrated scale to measure the eWOM Usefulness for influencing cognitive, affective, and conative attitudes in leisure travel. The present study develops and validates an eWOM usefulness scale using the scientific scale development process to fill the research gap. A two-stage study (study 1: EFA; study 2: Measurement Model Assessment – CFA) confirmed the reliability and validity of the scale. Findings suggested the role of eWOM volume, eWOM valence, argument quality, and source credibility in eWOM usefulness. This study is a forerunner in using the stimulus organism response (SOR) lens to explain eWOM usefulness in leisure travel.

KEYWORDS:

• Ewom
• eWOM volume
• eWOM valence
• argument quality
• source credibility
• measurement scale

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sanjeev Verma

Sanjeev Verma is presently working as Associate Professor (Marketing) at NITIE, Mumbai. His research interests include marketing analytics, consumer analytics, and services marketing. Dr. Verma is an active researcher and has authored/co-authored more than 50 publications in refereed International/national journals and authored one book. His papers have been published in various international journals of repute like Journal of Interactive Marketing, Tourism Review, Journal of Global Marketing, Journal of Internet Commerce, Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing etc.

Neha Yadav

Neha Yadav is a Fellow in Marketing from NITIE, Mumbai. Her domain knowledge lies in the field of Market Research (quantitative), Multivariate Analysis and consumer behavior. She has published papers in scholarly peer reviewed journals of repute.

Rekha Chikhalkar

Rekha Chikhalkar is Associate Professor of Marketing Management at NITIE, Mumbai. She has published papers in National/International journals and in proceedings of conferences. Her research interests include Data analytics for business applications, Business process re-engineering, and Marketing Analytics.