Comparing the impact of ritual interaction on word-of-mouth under different types of ritual activities in tourism

This study compares the configurational effects of ritual interaction (RI) on word-of-mouth (WOM) in religious, political, cultural, and entertainment rituals. PLS-SEM results show that RI significantly enhances WOM via tourist engagement and sense of meaning. fsQCA further reveals that, across ritual types, RI elements have distinct configurations of driving engagement, sense of meaning, and WOM. Scripted processes are central to WOM for most rituals, whereas contextual elements matter most for entertainment rituals but not for political rituals. This study extends RI theory by validating the RI framework for four rituals and offers strategic insights for destination management regarding the configuration of these RI elements.