Online Travel Reviews and Tourist Destination Choices: An Extension of the Information Adoption Model

Online reviews (OR) are essential in influencing tourists’ decision-making processes. Therefore, this study investigates how online travel reviews impact tourists’ destination choices. Using a quantitative research approach, 308 usable responses were collected through a purposive sampling technique from individuals in Bangladesh and analyzed through PLS-SEM. The findings revealed that besides perceived review usefulness, factors such as perceived review quality, perceived review diagnosticity, and perceived review credibility significantly influence tourists’ online review adoption. Additionally, review adoption was found to influence destination choice. However, perceived review trust does not moderate the relationship between review adoption and destination choice. Theoretically, this study expands the Information Adoption Model by integrating destination choice as an outcome and perceiving review trust as a moderating factor. It further refines the model by highlighting the role of perceived diagnosticity in review adoption. This study provides several practical implications for stakeholders in Bangladesh’s tourism industry.