The role of emotions in online travel: Towards the development of a Website Emotional Design (W.E.D.) model for romantic travel consumers.

摘要

The objective of this study was to develop and validate a model of the influence of Website Emotional Design (W.E.D.) based on the perceptions of romantic travel consumers. The study identified a list of design features from a review of the literature as well as a review of the content of official destination management organization (DMO) Websites with the capacity to evoke emotions from users. Nine DMO Websites were rated based on their emotional appeal confirming the use of emotional features in the design of the travel interface. Using confirmatory factor analysis, a four dimensional model resulted that explained W.E.D. which included the social, personal, aesthetic, and scenic constructs. Aesthetic and scenic dimensions were rated as the most influential of all the W.E.D. dimensions. In addition, a representative profile of the romantic travel consumer was determined based on their demographics, online behavior, as well as influential emotional features. Findings from the study suggest that female romantic travelers were more inclined to be influenced by social and aesthetic W.E.D. features over their male counterparts.