A systematic review of the mediating factors in the relationship between user generated content (UGC) and Destination Choice

Abstract

With the rise of internet and social media, users have become both creators as well as consumers of User Generated Content (UGC). UGC is shared publicly by people, including reviews of travel and tourism services. Since such services are intangible, and picking a destination contains an inherent risk of trusting the security and services of an unknown place, people rely on UGC to reduce their risk and pick a reliable destination. In this relationship between UGC and destination choice, there are several mediating variables that have an impact on the destination choice, like trust, envy and destination image. While there have been systematic literature reviews (SLR) on related topics in UGC, but there are no SLRs that synthesize the available knowledge on the mediating variables between the relationship between UGC and destination choice. This is the research gap that this dissertation aims to fill. The objectives of the research were to establish the various mediating factors that have been examined in the prior literature in the relationship between UGC and destination research, synthesise the research, critically analyse the factors and provide recommendations to the various stakeholders based on the findings. The research question formulated was, “What are the various mediating factors in the relationship between UGC and destination choice, in the literature between 2010-2024”.