Trustworthiness of Travel 2.0 applications and their influence on tourist behaviour: an empirical investigation in Italy

Travel 2.0 applications are becoming increasingly important. Accordingly to recent research, they exert great influence in generating the idea of travelling, on the actual planning process, and during the post-travel phase. Online applications can also sometimes induce tourists to alter their decisions after obtaining further information. Recently researchers have started to analyse the credibility and trustworthiness that tourists confer upon different Travel 2.0 applications, contributing, in this way, to clarify the extent to which they affect tourists’ attitudes and purchasing decisions. Even so, little is still known on this topic. In order to fill this gap, an online survey was conducted on a sample of Italian tourists to investigate the level of trustworthiness they feel towards different types of Travel 2.0 applications, as well as whether these applications exert different influences over the way tourists respond to company images and make their choices.

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