Online tourism consumers trust in social commerce: a cross-country study in Brazil and Uruguay

Abstract

This study analyzes the influence of the brand's reputation, the information quality on the website and the presence of comments, evaluations and recommendations typical of social commerce on trust and purchase intention of Brazilian and Uruguayan consumers of online travel agencies (OTAs). We conducted a survey research with 249 consumers from Brazil and Uruguay that use travel and tourism websites regularly. We found firm reputation as the main predictor of trust in both countries, influencing the consumers' purchase intention as well. Our results also suggest that both online recommendations and website information quality are important antecedents of trust, with no significant differences in the purchasing behavior of the studied consumers. The study suggests the presence of a Latin American culture, stronger than a national culture of Brazilians and Uruguayans regarding online tourism. These findings bring theoretical and managerial contributions that can support researchers and practitioners in Tourism, Marketing, and Information Technology domains that are interested in companies that operate in more than one country or with consumers from different national cultures, whether developing marketing strategies or improving their online platforms.

Keywords
Social commerce; Online Tourism; Trust; Purchase Intention; Cross-country Study