Effects of tourism livestreaming service failures on tourists’ switching behavior and negative word-of-mouth

Purpose Based on the expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT) and the stressor-stress-outcome (SSO) model, failures of tourism livestreaming services are conceptualized in this study, and their impact on consumer disappointment, negative word-of-mouth and platform-switching behavior is investigated. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach was employed. First, 35 semi structured interviews were conducted to identify the dimensions of tourism livestreaming service failure. An online survey of 688 experienced tourism livestreaming consumers was subsequently analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) to test the proposed theoretical model. Findings Study 1 identified four distinct service failure dimensions: informational, functional, systemic and interactional. Study 2 revealed that all four dimensions positively influence consumer disappointment, which in turn predicts switching behavior and negative word-of-mouth. The type of livestreaming platform was found to moderate these relationships. ANN analysis indicated that informational failure is the primary determinant of consumer disappointment, functional failure most strongly influences switching behavior and interactional failure is the most critical factor driving negative word-of-mouth. Practical implications The findings provide actionable insights for tourism livestreaming platform managers and tourism operators. These insights facilitate the development of targeted, platform-specific strategies to mitigate service failures, thereby reducing negative consumer responses. Originality/value This research establishes a validated, multidimensional service failure framework for the context of livestreaming in tourism and innovatively proposes interaction failure as a key dimension that highlights the critical impact of social interaction. By integrating EDT with the SSO model, this study delineates the causal path from cognitive appraisal to behavioral outcomes.