How tourist power in social media affects tourism market regulation after unethical incidents: Evidence from China

Few studies have explored how stakeholders react to unethical incidents and the consequences of their behaviors under Web 2.0. Unethical incidents pose real challenges for the destination. This study takes Snow Town as a case and proposes a process model for examining how tourist power in social media affects tourism market regulation after unethical incidents. Based on long-term follow-up surveys, this study finds that tourists' perceived tourism market regulation depends on the perceived severity of an unethical incident, responsibility attribution, and tolerance of ambiguity. Tourists' behavioral reactions to an unethical incident follow a set sequence: cognition, emotion, perceived tourism market regulation, behavior, market re-configuration. The paper offers a conceptual model for understanding market re-configuration after unethical incidents. •Tourist power affects tourism market regulation after unethical issues.•Tourists' perceived tourism market regulation depends on certain factors.•Factors: perceived severity, responsibility attribution, tolerance of ambiguity•Reactions: cognition, emotion, sensory order, behavior, market re-configuration