Intention to adopt user generated content on virtual travel communities: Exploring the mediating role of attitude

Online communities have brought major changes in the behaviour of consumers in the travel and tourism industry. Travellers frequently rely on the User General Content (UGC) to make their travel-related decisions. Avid travellers join travel communities and actively look for unbiased information, and share their own experiences. This paper explores the predictors of consumer attitude and intention to follow UGC posted on online travel communities. Further, this study attempts to analyze the influence of Customer Value Creation (CVC) on attitude and traveller’s intention to adopt UGC posted on online travel communities. Data collected from 246 members of online travel communities were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling. Empirical results show that CVC has a significant direct and positive impact on travel information adoption intention and indirect influence through attitude. This study is among the few on the impact of CVC on attitude towards UGC posted on an online travel community and advances the literature on the subject by explaining the relative impact of CVC on attitude from a different theoretical perspective.