Factors affecting ecotourism loyalty with the moderating role of social influence - Empirical evidence in Vietnam

Abstract

Today, ecotourism has become more common and attractive for tourists who love to explore nature and experience the cultural heritage. In the 4.0 age of technology, social networking not only helps visitors find suitable destinations to visit easily but also provides visitors with a place to leave comments or reviews after the trips. This study aims to qualify the relationships between electronic-worth-of-mouth (eWOM), social influence (SI), destination image (DI), tourist satisfaction (SAT), and ecotourism loyalty (EL). The study applied the PLS-SEM model to estimate 499 observations at ecotourism sites in Vietnam as empirical evidence. The research results show that all the factors in the research model have positive and significant effects on EL. In particular, DI and SAT, directly and indirectly, affect EL; while eWOM and SI only have direct effects on EL. Additionally, it was found that the effect of eWOM on EL increased with the moderating role of SI. © 2022 Editura Universitatii din Oradea. All rights reserved.