Abstract
Employing the Elaboration Likelihood Model in this study, we identified how online review (OR) embedded in travel websites could influence Chinese travelers’ perceived information usefulness. The results demonstrated that the argument quality of OR could positively affect perceived information usefulness, whereas the impact of source credibility of OR was not verified. These results were also confirmed in a multiple analysis which divided travelers by motivation and capacity.
Based on the above results, a single-route model was proposed. According to the single-route model, argument quality was proved to have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between source credibility and perceived information usefulness. However, this mediating effect was not moderated either by motivation or capacity.
