TTLV: “The impact of electronic word of mouth on international tourists' intention to travel to Vietnam”

1. Student's full name: Nguyen Thi Xuyen 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: February 4, 1993
4. Place of birth: Hai Duong
5. Decision on recognition of students No. 1811/2021/QD-XHNV dated September 8, 2021 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
6. Changes in training process: No
7. Thesis topic: "The impact of electronic word of mouth on international tourists' intention to travel to Vietnam"
8. Major: Tourism; Code: 8810101.01
9. Scientific advisor: Dr. Dang Thi Phuong Anh, Lecturer, Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
10. Summary of thesis results:
The author conducts an overview of research works on the impact of electronic word of mouth on travel intention in the past 10 years from 2012 to June 2022, analyzes related theories, and determines the research model. The main research method of the thesis is quantitative and qualitative. The research model is adjusted after interviewing experts' opinions along with previous theories and research on the image of Vietnam's destinations with its own characteristics. The research was conducted through a survey of 300 international tourists who can use English. After cleaning the data, 285 samples met the requirements and were included in the analysis process. The data analysis methods used in the thesis include: Descriptive statistics of observed variables; Assessment of the reliability of the scale using Cronbach's Alpha; Scale verification using the method of exploratory factor analysis EFA; Confirmatory factor analysis CFA; SEM linear structural model analysis.
Based on the reviewed studies, the thesis inherits and applies the model of Jalilvand and Samiei (2012) on the relationship between electronic word of mouth and international tourists' intention to travel to Vietnam through two intermediate factors: destination image and tourists' attitude towards the destination of Vietnam. The research results show that electronic word of mouth has a positive impact on destination image and tourists' attitude towards the destination, thereby enhancing international tourists' intention to travel to Vietnam. In particular, the study shows the level of support and identification of Vietnam destination image attributes by international tourists, especially after the period when Vietnam reopened tourism after the pandemic.
From the above analysis, the author discusses the research results, giving policy implications (for destination management agencies and tourism businesses) contributing to positioning, building and developing the Vietnamese tourism destination brand to international tourists through popular and highly appreciated electronic word-of-mouth information channels including tourism forums and social networks.
11. Practical application:
The research results are the basis for destination management agencies and tourism businesses to develop policies to build and develop Vietnam's tourism destination brand to international tourists through electronic word-of-mouth information channels.
12. Further research directions:
In-depth research on the impact of electronic word of mouth on a specific group of international tourists (visitors from Europe, Australia, etc.) on their intention to travel to Vietnam through identifying the image of Vietnam as a destination and their attitudes towards the destination to determine the characteristics and specific needs of each group of tourists.
Research, compare and evaluate the effectiveness of electronic word-of-mouth impact on different channels (travel forums and social networks) on international tourists.
13. The published works related to the thesis:

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
 

1. Full name: Nguyen Thi Xuyen 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: February 4, 1993 4. Place of birth: Hai Duong
5. Admission decision number: 1811/2021/QD-XHNV dated September 8, 2021 by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi
6. Changes in academic process: No
(List the forms of change and corresponding times)
7. Official thesis title: Impact of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on international tourists' intention to Vietnam
8. Major: Tourism Code: 8810101.01
9. Supervisors: Dr. Dang Thi Phuong Anh, Lecturer of Faculty of Tourism, University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
(Full name, academic title and degree)
10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:
The author conducted a review review on the impact of electronic word-of-mouth on tourists' intention in a period of 10 years from 2012 to June 2022, analyzed related theories, identified research model. The main research method of the thesis is quantitative combined with qualitative. The research model is adjusted after interviewing experts along with the theory and research on image of Vietnam destination with its own attributes. The study was conducted through a survey of 300 international tourists who are able to use English, after cleaning the data, 285 samples were used in the analysis process. Data analysis methods used in the thesis include: Descriptive statistics of observed variables; Testing the scale by exploratory factor analysis (EFA); Evaluate the reliability of the scale by Cronbach's Alpha; CFA confirmatory factor analysis and SEM structural model analysis.
Based on the reviewed studies, the thesis inherits and applies the model of Jalilvand and Samiei (2012) on the relationship between electronic word-of-mouth and international tourists' intention to Vietnam through two intermediate factors which are destination image and tourists' attitude towards Vietnam destination. Research results show that electronic word-of-mouth has a positive impact on destination image and tourists attitude towards destination, thereby enhancing international tourists' intention to travel to Vietnam. In particular, the study shows the level of support and recognition of attributes of Vietnamese destination image by international tourists, especially after the period when Vietnam tourism reopened after the pandemic.
From the above analysis, the author discusses the research results, gives policy implications (for destination management organizations - DMOs and tourism stakeholders) to contribute to development of Vietnam tourism destination brand to international tourists through popular and highly appreciated electronic word-of-mouth communication channels including tourism forums and social networking sites.
(Summarize them with stress on the new findings, if any)
11. Practical applicability, if any:
The research results are the foundation for destination management organizations (DMOs) and tourism stakeholders to make policies to build and develop the brand of Vietnam destination image to international tourists through the electronic word-of-mouth.
12. Further research directions, if any:
In-depth research on the impact of electronic word-of-mouth on a specific set of international tourists (from Europe, Australia, etc.) on the intention to travel to Vietnam through Vietnam destination image and attitudes towards the destination in order to identify the specific characteristics and needs of each type of tourists.
Research, compare and evaluate the impact of electronic word-of-mouth on different eWOM channels (travel forums and social networking sites) on international tourists.
13. Thesis-related publications:

(List them in chronological order)