Negative tourism rumors towards user online citizenship behavior: the differential influence of correction sources

Abstract

Purpose Negative rumors damage the destination’s image and tourist experience. This study aims to compare how rumor correction sources (government vs business vs tourist) affect user online citizenship behavior (UOCB). Design/methodology/approach Based on the stimuli-organism-response framework, a hypothetical model was established from rumor correction to UOCB. Three scenario experiments (more than 1,000 valid samples) were designed. Study 1 illustrated the effects of different rumor corrections, Study 2 was designed to verify the mediating effects of sympathy and perceived information authenticity (PIA) and the robustness of results was demonstrated in Study 3. Findings Government correction elicited the highest sympathy and PIA. Business correction was less than tourist correction in arousing sympathy but better than tourist correction in enhancing PIA. Sympathy and PIA had a mediating effect on the relationship between rumor correction and UOCB. Practical implications This study helps to identify the different advantages of rumor correctors and provides insights to prevent the deterioration of negative tourism rumors or even reverse these crises. Originality/value This study innovates research perspective of negative tourism rumor governance, expands the understanding of the effect and process of rumor correction and enriches the research content of tourism crisis communication.