How Review Trust and Digital Reputation Affect Review Adoption: An Expansion of the Elaboration Likelihood Model

More and more people are getting travel information through various types of travel social sharing platform(TSSP). Digital reputation is an essential trait of social media; the higher the digital reputation, the more likely are TSSP to be trusted by users for social media reviews to be adopted. We used an elaboration likelihood model that measures the impact of peripheral cues (e.g., digital reputation) and corresponding central cues (e.g., review trust) related to social presence on TSSP on travelers’ review adoption behavior. We empirically analyzed 539 respondents who adopted travel reviews via TSSP. Our findings suggest that review trust has a positive impact on perceived usefulness, and digital reputation has a positive impact on perceived usefulness. Perceived usefulness has a significant positive effect on travel review adoption. Finally, it was found that TSSP members’ perceived level of trust in review and digital reputation varied depending on the level of social presence.