Mental Time Travel in Online Travel Communities: The Application of Past and Future Time Orientations

Abstract

This study identified travelers’ mental states related to key travel attributes at different stages of travel. Specifically, this study addresses three research foci: (1) the major topics discussed by online travel community members regarding European and Asian destinations; (2) the members’ future and past time orientations; and (3) the emotions associated with the topics discussed. To answer our research questions, we conducted topic modeling and language analysis to measure travelers’ temporal orientations (i.e., past and future orientations) and emotional states (i.e., positive and negative sentiments) as expressed on Reddit. We compared comments on the 20 most salient topics related to European and Asian destinations by topic weight, and classified the discussed topics on the basis of topic sentiment and temporal orientation. Our results identify the key travel attributes shared in the online sphere, where online travel community members express varying sentiments toward past and future experiences and events. The findings will benefit diverse travel industry stakeholders as well as researchers interested in online discourses.