The impact of information quality on behavioral intention: New insights from North African tourism sector

Tourism studies have extensively examined the influence of social media marketing on consumer responses. However, there are still gaps in understanding the nuanced relationship between Tourism Information Quality (TIQ), destination evaluation, and tourists' responses. This study employs the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) and Information Quality (IQ) Model to explore the effect of TIQ of user-generated content (UGC) and firm-generated content (FGC), focusing on their impact on destination trust, destination image, and tourist behavioral intentions. The study began with a pilot study to refine the IQ items and consolidate them into a single abstract construct to improve model parsimony. Following this, a cross-sectional survey was administered to 475 actual tourists in Algeria. Employing the Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling approach, the study unveils distinct influence patterns of UGC and FGC on key tourism outcomes. The findings reveal that the TIQ of UGC positively influences destination image and trust, though it does not directly influence behavioral intention. Conversely, TIQ of FGC quality significantly influences destination image, trust, and behavioral intentions. These results highlight the critical roles of information quality of both UGC and FGC in shaping tourists' evaluations, with FGC proving more effective in driving future tourist behaviors. This study advances the field of IQ in tourism-generated content on social media by integrating UGC and FGC and extending existing models beyond destination image within a cohesive framework. The study equips destinations with acumens to leverage TIQ on social media platforms, enhancing tourism appeal and attracting more visitors.