A model of behavioral intentions to follow online travel advice based on social and emotional loneliness scales in the context of online travel communities: The moderating role of emotional expressivity

Abstract

This study proposes a comprehensive hybrid model of the use of online travel communities for social and emotional loneliness (OTS-SEL), identification with the peer group (IPG), peer communication (PCO), user satisfaction (USAT), and behavioral intentions to follow travel advice (INFTA). The study determines whether OTS-SEL is composed of three subdimensions of social loneliness, friend loneliness, and romantic loneliness based on a second-order stricture; tests a structural equation model to examine the relationships between OTS-SEL, IPG, PCO, USAT, and INFTA; and provides a multi-group analysis to investigate the moderating effect of emotional expressivity (EME) on the relationship between USAT and INFTA. The results provide support for all hypotheses except for the one about the relationship between IPG and USAT; have important implications; and offer interesting avenues for future research. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.