Impact of tourist-to-tourist interaction on tourism experience: The mediating role of cohesion and intimacy

Utilizing the Stimulus-Organism-Response paradigm, this study explores how self-disclosure, an important component of tourist-to-tourist interaction, influences tourist experience. Data were collected through a field experiment and analyzed via PLS analysis and PROCESS. Findings indicate that self-disclosure indirectly increases engagement by strengthening perceived cohesion and perceived intimacy. Perceived cohesion and perceived intimacy have indirect effects on satisfaction with experience, through engagement. Further, the initial tie strength moderates the effect of self-disclosure on perceived cohesion and perceived intimacy. These findings contribute to the development of tourism experience research from the perspective of tourist-to-tourist interaction and the social interaction literature by examining the unique interaction mechanism among tourists.