Title: Role of TripAdvisor in influencing international tourists visiting Puducherry

Authors: Vaishnavi Ramanujam; Prem Kumar

Addresses: School of Management, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed to be University), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India ' Department of Tourism, School of Professional Studies, Garden City University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Abstract: The study explores the perception of the international tourists about Puducherry based on TripAdvisor reviews using a mixed-method approach in two phases. First phase included quantitative survey using structured questionnaire (n = 189) to know the demographic profile and social media adoption. Second phase included manual content analysis and sentimental analysis (using R packages) to understand the sentiments of the tourists based on TripAdvisor reviews (July 2019-January 2020). Findings reveal five main attributes of the destination. Visiting temples, beaches, and walking were the most sought after activities. Sentiment analysis displayed high frequency of positive reviews (joy, trust, anticipation and surprise). Reviews on social media influence other tourists to visit a destination. These reviews can be used in addressing negative eWOM and matching the perception of tourists by collaborating and streamlining the services. TripAdvisor reviews can help destination marketers in designing the marketing strategies.

Keywords: TripAdvisor; social media; tourism; India; Puducherry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2022.126267

International Journal of Technology Marketing, 2022 Vol.16 No.4, pp.386 - 402

Received: 29 Aug 2021
Accepted: 29 Nov 2021
Published online: 18 Oct 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article