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<p>Although both attraction-related word-of-mouth (WOM) in tourism and spoilers in media communication involve the premature disclosure of content, no prior research has applied spoiler-based concepts to explain how attraction-related WOM shapes tourists’ decisions and experience expectations. This research addresses this gap through two studies that integrate the spoiler theory with tourism information processing. Study 1 conceptualizes the willingness to engage in spoilers (tourists’ willingness to receive attraction-related WOM) as a core construct and examines how practical motivation and lack-of-interest constraint influence this willingness and, in turn, shape entertainment and escapism expectations of the attraction. Partial least squares (PLS) analysis using data from 232 responses regarding Taiwan’s Ruifang–Ruisan Coal Preparation Plant Museum, a former coal mine that has been converted into a museum of the coal mining history, reveals that spoiler engagement through attraction-related WOM enhances both types of experience expectations. Study 2 incorporates perceived spoilage (the extent to which individuals are perceived as being spoiled), need-for-cognition (tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking), and need-for-affect (tendency to seek or avoid emotional experiences) to investigate how functional and sign values embedded in attraction-related WOM influence perceived spoilage and visit intention. This study also tests whether the need-for-affect and need-for-cognition moderate the relationship between information value and perceived spoilage. PLS analysis of 236 responses from the same attraction as that in Study 1 reveals that functional value increases perceived spoilage and the need-for-cognition weakens this effect. Theoretically, this research bridges the literature on both spoilers and tourism WOM by conceptualizing attraction-related WOM as a context-specific form of a spoiler. The findings demonstrate that schema discrepancy, comprehension, and perceptual fluency mechanisms better account for tourists’ responses than traditional excitation-transfer explanation, thereby extending the spoiler theory beyond entertainment contexts and clarifying conditions under which foreknowledge enhances rather than undermines anticipation. Practically, the results indicate that tourism marketers can disclose attraction details without fearing detrimental emotional outcomes: attraction-related WOM generally elevates experience expectations and visit intention. Moreover, tailoring the level and type of information to tourists’ cognitive and affective dispositions can optimize pre-trip engagement and reduce uncertainty among tourists.</p>

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Understanding attraction-related electronic word-of-mouth from the spoiler perspective

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月23日

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  • Wee-Kheng Tan

摘要

Although both attraction-related word-of-mouth (WOM) in tourism and spoilers in media communication involve the premature disclosure of content, no prior research has applied spoiler-based concepts to explain how attraction-related WOM shapes tourists’ decisions and experience expectations. This research addresses this gap through two studies that integrate the spoiler theory with tourism information processing. Study 1 conceptualizes the willingness to engage in spoilers (tourists’ willingness to receive attraction-related WOM) as a core construct and examines how practical motivation and lack-of-interest constraint influence this willingness and, in turn, shape entertainment and escapism expectations of the attraction. Partial least squares (PLS) analysis using data from 232 responses regarding Taiwan’s Ruifang–Ruisan Coal Preparation Plant Museum, a former coal mine that has been converted into a museum of the coal mining history, reveals that spoiler engagement through attraction-related WOM enhances both types of experience expectations. Study 2 incorporates perceived spoilage (the extent to which individuals are perceived as being spoiled), need-for-cognition (tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking), and need-for-affect (tendency to seek or avoid emotional experiences) to investigate how functional and sign values embedded in attraction-related WOM influence perceived spoilage and visit intention. This study also tests whether the need-for-affect and need-for-cognition moderate the relationship between information value and perceived spoilage. PLS analysis of 236 responses from the same attraction as that in Study 1 reveals that functional value increases perceived spoilage and the need-for-cognition weakens this effect. Theoretically, this research bridges the literature on both spoilers and tourism WOM by conceptualizing attraction-related WOM as a context-specific form of a spoiler. The findings demonstrate that schema discrepancy, comprehension, and perceptual fluency mechanisms better account for tourists’ responses than traditional excitation-transfer explanation, thereby extending the spoiler theory beyond entertainment contexts and clarifying conditions under which foreknowledge enhances rather than undermines anticipation. Practically, the results indicate that tourism marketers can disclose attraction details without fearing detrimental emotional outcomes: attraction-related WOM generally elevates experience expectations and visit intention. Moreover, tailoring the level and type of information to tourists’ cognitive and affective dispositions can optimize pre-trip engagement and reduce uncertainty among tourists.