What influences online users’ tourism information sharing?: A study based on regulatory focus theory

Abstract

The emergence of social media has had a huge impact on the tourism industry, as it has become a pivotal platform for the dissemination and interaction of tourism information. This study investigated the impact of information completeness (complete vs. incomplete), information timeliness (timely vs. lagging), and information interestingness (interesting vs. uninteresting) on online users’ tourism information sharing, incorporating regulatory focus as the control variable. Employing the experimental method, this study focused on a case related to tourism information sharing on Weibo about Wuzhen. The results reveal that online users are more inclined to share tourism information when it is perceived as complete, timely, and interesting. Key findings reveal that the regulatory focus of online users may be used as a moderating variable. A noticeable promotion of regulatory focus amplifies the positive correlation between information completeness, timeliness, interestingness, and online users’ tourism information sharing. This study may help enhance the quality of tourism information on online platforms and optimize the mechanisms for sharing tourism information online.