Effects of psychological distance and social influence on tourists’ hotel booking preferences

Abstract

ABSTRACT Standing out in the tourists’ hotel booking process is important for hotels in today’s competitive environment. To effectively promote hotels, it is necessary to have a deeper grasp of the factors affecting tourists’ hotel choices. To this end, this research examines the effects of psychological distance (temporal and spatial) and social influence on tourists’ hotel booking preferences based on the Construal-Level Theory (CLT). Social influence is identified as a moderator between psychological distance and tourists’ booking preferences; whole perceived message quality is identified as a mediator. The paper concludes with theoretical implications, practical implications, and ideas for future research.