The Internet has greatly changed travel planning and the ways in which travelers consume information. Unfortunately, travelers struggle to efficiently search for information, and they gravitate toward search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo!, Ask, etc.) as a means of increasing the efficiency of their research. This study begins by recognizing the significance of travelers' initial responses (referred to as 'first impression') to travel websites. This research argues that first impression toward travel websites is critical in understanding online information search behavior because decisions tend to be based on what is viewed at the beginning of interaction. Building upon Fogg (2001), this study investigates the persuasive design of destination websites and its influence on the persuasion process. In particular, it seeks to understand the underlying dimensions of persuasiveness (informativeness, usability, trustworthiness, inspiration, involvement, reciprocity) and their influence on tourists' impressions of destination websites.;To achieve these goals, a series of four studies were conducted in two phases. In Phase One, three studies were conducted to establish a solid research framework: research design and procedures were evaluated, along with survey instruments. Study One focuses on an evaluation of measurement properties of scales, while Studies Two and Three assess the effect of evaluation time on tourists' perceptions of destination websites. In Phase Two, a model of first impression formation for destination websites along with related hypotheses were tested. In particular, the study conducted in Phase Two found that some online trip planners assess the persuasiveness of destination websites through a different process than others, and due to this crucial difference, they were separated into the following two groups: (1) Those who perceived all possible persuasiveness-related design aspects included in destination websites (referred to as Full Completion Group in this research) (2) those who did not perceive the values of trustworthiness and reciprocity (referred to as Limited Completion Group). Due to the uniqueness of Trustworthiness and Reciprocity in this study, these two values serve as a basis for classifying online trip planners. Next, a differentiated modeling strategy was applied to evaluate the model of first impression formation for those two groups of tourists (Full and Limited Completion Groups), with the following results: (1) The model for Full Completion Group included all six persuasiveness natures of destination websites, and (2) trustworthiness and reciprocity, among the six persuasive design factors, were eliminated from the original model so that four persuasiveness natures were modeled for Limited Completion Group. All other constructs remained same in both models.;The results of path analyses found that tourists who perceive all possible persuasiveness-related aspects form their first impressions through a very complex process, while those who do not see trustworthiness- and reciprocity-related aspects undergo a more simple process, from the first moment they interface with DMO websites until their first impression toward the websites are formed. Regardless of evaluative process, first impressions of destination websites are a strong indicator of future use; that is, the substantial proportion of travelers' intentions to elaborate on destination websites can be explained by their initial impression toward the websites. For trip planners who follow the more complex process, informativeness, inspiration, and reciprocity are turned out as the most critical among the six persuasiveness natures in determining intention to use websites for trip planning. The influence of perceptions regarding websites' usability, trustworthiness, and involvement is relatively small, but still significant, in determining intention for future use. Interestingly, destination knowledge was found to have considerable influence on tourists' intention to use. It was also found that Internet use experience and perceived complexity of websites exert a small but negative influence on this intention. In addition, those who do not perceive cues representing credibility and reciprocity decide whether or not to stay on the websites based primarily on their overall impressions toward the websites and their perception of the site's inspirational value, and these factors are closely followed in importance by involvement and destination knowledge. Consistent with the findings for the Full Completion Group, destination knowledge is found to be a determinate factor for intention.;This study contributes to the development of scales for measuring the persuasiveness of destination websites, and it also contributes theoretical and empirical findings on the substantial influence of first impressions toward websites on the consumer persuasion process. Additionally, this research confirms that the Elaboration Likelihood Model is applicable to the context of first impression formation in destination websites. It is expected that the findings of this study provide destination marketers with meaningful insights into design guidelines for persuasive architecture of destination websites. This thesis ends by discussion of the limitations of present research and the directions for future research.
展开▼
