TY - JOUR
T1 - The Formation of a Tourist Destination's Image via Information Sources
T2 - The Moderating Effect of Culture
AU - Frías, Dolores M.
AU - Rodríguez, Miguel A.
AU - Alberto Castañeda, J.
AU - Sabiote, Carmen M.
AU - Buhalis, Dimitrios
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - The present study aims to outline the growing importance of culture in the field of tourism. More specifically, it highlights culture as a moderating variable in pre-visit tourist destination image formation, through the information sources utilized by the tourist in the selection of a holiday destination (that is, travel agencies alone vs. travel agencies together with the Internet). For this purpose primary research used a multicultural sample of 371 tourists from different European countries. The results show that the formation of a destination's pre-visit image amongst tourists, based on the information sources they use, is moderated by the level of uncertainty-avoidance of their national cultures.
AB - The present study aims to outline the growing importance of culture in the field of tourism. More specifically, it highlights culture as a moderating variable in pre-visit tourist destination image formation, through the information sources utilized by the tourist in the selection of a holiday destination (that is, travel agencies alone vs. travel agencies together with the Internet). For this purpose primary research used a multicultural sample of 371 tourists from different European countries. The results show that the formation of a destination's pre-visit image amongst tourists, based on the information sources they use, is moderated by the level of uncertainty-avoidance of their national cultures.
KW - Culture
KW - Destination image
KW - Internet
KW - Travel agency
KW - Uncertainty avoidance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865279589&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jtr.870
DO - 10.1002/jtr.870
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84865279589
SN - 1099-2340
VL - 14
SP - 437
EP - 450
JO - International Journal of Tourism Research
JF - International Journal of Tourism Research
IS - 5
ER -