Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Tourism Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tourman

Involvement theory in constructing bloggers’ intention to purchase

travel products
Ching-Yuan Huang a, *, Chia-Jung Chou b, Pei-Ching Lin c
a
Department of Marketing Management, SHU-TE University, Kaohsiung 824, Taiwan, ROC
b
Department of Hospitality Management, Tajen University, Pingtong 908, Taiwan, ROC
c
Department of Business Administration, SHU-TE University, Kaohsiung 824, Taiwan, ROC

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Blogs recently have demonstrated their enormous marketing potential, and more and more travel
Received 14 July 2008 advertisements are being posted in blogs. In light of this observation, this study aims to provide insights
Accepted 7 June 2009 into the structural relationship among travel bloggers’ involvement level, the advertising effect from blog
messages, and travel bloggers’ intention to purchase travel products. A travel blogger’s purchase
Keywords: intention model was constructed and empirically tested. A total of 900 questionnaires were distributed
Ad effect
to identified travel bloggers; 398 valid responses were returned. The data were examined with Structural
Blog
Equation Modelling (SEM). The results demonstrated the positive impact resulting from the ad effect as
Brand attitude
Ad memory well as the ad effect on purchase intention, which could be verified in travel blog environments. It also
Purchase intention indicated that high-involvement travel bloggers are more likely to form favourable impressions with
regard to ads in travel blogs. Travel blogs play a positive role in the processing of ad messages; brand
management is essential to business marketers since brand attitude is the most influential factor related
to the ad effect on purchase intention. Meanwhile, while ad attitude is not significantly effective con-
cerning purchase intention, it remains essential in forming brand attitudes. Several implications for
posting advertisements in travel blogs will be discussed and suggested in this paper.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
As of February 2006, more than 37.3 million blogs could be
tracked in the virtual world; and during the past three years, blog
numbers doubled every six months (Technorati, 2006). On average,
50,000 new articles per hour and 120,000 new entries per day are
posted on blogs. Taking advantage of the automated linking tech-
nology, different blogs can thereby be easily connected to one
another. This convenient network helps to rapidly spread infor-
mation, or form an issue discussion platform, when there is
marketing activity. A survey conducted by comScore (2005),
a global Internet usage and measurement provider, showed that the
term ‘‘bloggers’’ covers a wide scope of interest, and that they are
willing to devote more time and money than other Internet users.
This phenomenon has created an emergent communication bridge;
in the meantime, the blog is becoming a more influential medium
and a new marketing power (Lee, Im, & Taylor, 2008; Lin & Huang,
2006; Litvin, Goldsmith, & Pan, 2008; Thevenot, 2007).
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ886 7 6158000x6302, mobile: þ886 928758520;
fax: þ886 7 6158000x6399.
E-mail addresses: chiyuan@mail.stu.edu.tw (C.-Y. Huang), javechou@gmail.com
(C.-J. Chou), chingmimosa@hotmail.com (P.-C. Lin).
A few years back, several business articles noted the marketing
potential of blogs for the travel industry (Del Rosso, 2005; Hotels,
2005). However, at that time, most hotels in the report seemed
little interested in blogs due to their poor understanding of how
blogs could do more than websites (Hotels, 2005). Later, travel
blogs revealed their effectiveness in searching information, sharing
travel diaries, and making airline ticket deals, along with bloggers
collectively commenting on travel issues or policies, which
compelled the travel-related companies to assign ‘‘employees to
monitor the blogosphere for what is being written about them’’
(Stapells, 2006). In recent times, BuzzLogic, a company focusing on
online influence, sponsored a survey, ‘‘Harnessing the Power of
Blogs’’ conducted by JupiterResearch (a Forrester Research
Company), where it was found that blogs influenced purchases
more than did social sites (Burns, 2008). Moreover, according to the
findings, blogs were recognized as a conversational and trusted
resource that could help in making purchase decisions. It was also
found that 40% of people surveyed had made a purchase after
reading an advertisement on a blog. Additionally, the influence of
blogs plays a role from the start of the information search to the
choices considered, and finalizing purchase decisions. The survey
demonstrated that advertisements on blogs can be a powerful
marketing medium to reach consumers. Blogs have become a new

0261-5177/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2009.06.003
514 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526
marketing means, where space and time have no limit and access is
rapid and worldwide.
Park, Shenoy, and Salvendy (2008) identified three features of
online advertising: ease of targeting, personalized content, and
interactivity. Blogs also convey these same characteristics, and excel
in interpersonal influence and social networking (Thevenot, 2007).
Marketers can take the bidirectional communication advantages of
blogs in widely distributing messages, positioning the first group of
bloggers, as well as interactively responding to potential customers.
Furthermore, it was anticipated that bloggers would spread positive
evaluations by word-of-mouth (WOM) (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2004) or
document, in commenting on products and services (Huang, Shen,
Lin, & Chang, 2007). For personal, company sponsored, or company-
owned blogs to stimulate positive WOM or counter negative
perceptions, WOM has become quite an important task in
marketing strategies and consumer feedback management in the
hospitality and tourism industry (Litvin et al., 2008).
Surveying several blog service providers in Taiwan (Yahoo-
Kimo, Wretch, Roodo!Blog, MSN Space, Xuite, Pchome blog, Sina
blog, Yam Sky blog and Taiwan Site of Blog Country), Insight-
explorer (2005) found that categorized ‘‘travel’’ blogs carry many
Internet ads and attract a good variety of bloggers. This phenom-
enon seems similar in the global travel blogosphere. On the basis of
our observations, ads on travel blogs can be classified into two
types: one is ‘‘target advertisements,’’ which are built in by the blog
service providers to lead bloggers to click through more informa-
tion; and the other one can be called ‘‘placement advertisements’’
(some are WOM), which are posted inside the content of blogs by
blog hosts or respondents. In addition, Pang (2006) pointed out that
travel blogs show business potential in the billions of dollars. Along
with this insight, major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, AOL,
etc., have subsequently developed new travel websites combining
functions, such as photos, video clips, restaurant reviews, and travel
diaries, to cater to greater travel information demands. In partic-
ular, travel advertisements are being posted more and more often
through the Internet, especially travel blogs.
Regarding discussions of online travel marketing issues or
purchase behaviours, most literature focused on the Internet (Frias,
Rodriguez, & Castaneda, 2008; Wu, Wei, & Chen, 2008), Webs
(Beldona, Morrison, & O’Leary, 2005; Brey, So, Kim, & Morrison,
2007; Choi, Lehto, & Morrison, 2007; Doolin, Burgess, & Cooper,
2002; Law, Qi, & Leung, 2008; Nysveen & Lexhagen, 2001), or
e-commerce (Oorni, 2003; Wu, 2004). Travel blogs, a developing
and essential marketing channel in the tourism industry, remain less
studied. Among the relatively few studies, Lin and Huang (2006)
took a Taiwanese engineer’s Aegean Sea travel blog as a case study to
analyze tourism-marketing response. Pan, MacLaurin and Crotts
(2007) qualitatively analyzed the opinions posted in leading travel
blogs to determine the function of blogs in destination marketing. A
systematic and empirical research on how advertisements in travel
blogs influence bloggers’ purchase decisions is demanding yet
crucial to better understand this new marketing tool; this under-
scores the originality and value of the present research.
On the other hand, how a consumer processes advertising and
blogs information requires knowledge of a person’s level of
involvement in specific issues. Prevalent travel literature discussed
the involvement factor in influencing consumers’ motivation or
image formation regarding destinations (Dimanche, Havitz, &
Howard, 1992; Joisam, Smeaton, & Clements, 1999; McGehee, Yoon,
& Cardenas, 2003; Frias et al., 2008). McGehee et al. (2003) found
that between the high and medium involvement groups, there
existed a significant difference in travel behaviour. The results
explored by Frias et al. (2008) demonstrated how the degree of
message involvement could significantly moderate the effect of
pre-visit image formation.
Therefore, this study aims to provide insights into the structural
relationship among travel bloggers’ involvement level, advertising
effect from blog messages, and travel bloggers’ intention to
purchase travel products. A model of ‘‘travel bloggers’’ consumer
intentions’ is constructed through literature reviews to determine
the essential factors influencing bloggers’ purchase intention in
regard to travel products.
2. Literature review
2.1. Definitions and characteristics of blogs
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary lists ‘‘blog’’ as one of 10 new
words in 2004. Here, blog is defined as ‘‘a website that contains an
online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often
hyperlinks provided by the writer.’’1 Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht,
and Swartz (2004) defined blog as a typical website with infor-
mation connections, a journal posted or written in chronological
order, and web links recommended by blog authors. In addition,
Eva (2005) defined blogs as a new tool for corporate operation and
identified several characteristics in business blogs: a low-cost
medium for information sharing in knowledge management and
marketing; handy software for users needing no special tech-
niques; a venue for promoting corporate public relationship and
professional image; a means for rapid information sharing and
sales tracking among corporate employees; inner knowledge
sharing for employees in relation to work efficiency; and a way to
help observe corporate policies or norms.
Blogs possess similar features to those of the Internet, such as
interactivity, no limitations in distance and time, low setup costs,
global coverage, and ease of entry (Berthon, Pitt, & Watson, 1996).
Nevertheless, according to a typology of e-WOM media as delin-
eated by Litvin et al. (2008), blogs are ‘‘many-to-many’’
(consumers) regarding communication type as well as asynchro-
nous in regard to the level of interactivity. These characteristics of
blogs are quite different from those of websites (one-to-many) or
e-mails (one-to-one). The interactivity of blogs is unlike that of
synchronous Newsgroups, chat rooms, or instant messaging.
Furthermore, blogs are different from the other online media in the
extent of privacy engagement, that is, individual and interpersonal
information disclosure (Lee et al., 2008), which could serve
psychological and social relationship functions for bloggers (Lee
et al., 2008; Thevenot, 2007).
As for the success of blogs, Du and Wagner (2006) postulated
a core value model, which identified that blog value lies in multiple
elements and that its popularity is associated with content value,
technology value, and social value (shown in Fig. 1). In this model,
the building technology of blogs directly influences their content
and social function. Blog technology (such as data storage, hyper-
links, link creation, and the like), helps bloggers to focus on their
text and shortens publishing time via online writing and updating.
Through automated link technology provided by blog software,
a new social circle can be created. Therefore, content value,
connection creation technology value, and social value are essen-
tial elements complementing one another to promote blog
popularity.
Thevenot (2007) emphasized the value of blogs based on their
strength, content, and personal opinions. Correspondingly, Du and
Wagner (2006) claimed that blog popularity is correlated to its
social value, and particularly, the influence of its content and word-
of-mouth activity (Litvin et al., 2008; Thevenot, 2007). Through co-
participation, bloggers with common interests would like to remain
1
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blog.
 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526
Type of information
Content
Posting volume value
Presentation
Organization
Weblog success
Tool characteristics Technology value (Popularity)
Usability & Sociability
Visitors/commentators Social
Blogroll value
Host affiliation
Fig. 1. Weblog success model proposed Du and Wagner (2006).
online and passionately discuss specific topics or issues (Huang
et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2008).
The above characteristics of blogs demonstrate their advantages
in tourism marketing. Pollock (1999) discussed difficulties in
tourism marketing due to travel products’ being fragmented (beds,
meals, tours, and seats sold in bits rather than as part of one
complete holiday). Liu (2000) described travel products and
services as information-intensive, difficult to evaluate, and lacking
physicality in terms of distribution; travel products are intangible
in nature, and cannot be physically seen or inspected prior to
purchase (Holloway, 2004). Since many factors are uncontrollable
(such as weather), travel products cannot be standardized in regard
to quality and expectations. As a result, from the consumer’s
perspective, the purchase of travel products is highly risky and
needs more information processing before a sound decision can be
made. Travel blogs serve as an appropriate communication tool for
destination image, itinerary stories, comments, opinions, social
community, and so on, to further information exchange.
This study, based on the sociability value of blogs as well as the
value of content influence, is interested in how bloggers involved
with the blog’s social context impact their responses to blog
content. Therefore, this study will explore the extent of the atten-
tion and degree of concern on the part of bloggers in terms of
involvement theory.
2.2. Involvement theory
Involvement theory has gained considerable attention and
application in behavioural researches, such as social psychology,
marketing, and advertising domains. Researches have proposed
various consumer behaviour models as well as expanded involve-
ment concepts. In consumer research, Belch and Belch (1997),
Dholakia (1998), and Poiesz and Cees (1995) argued that involve-
ment plays an important role in moderating and explaining vari-
able relationships. The level of involvement has antecedents, and at
the same time, the extent of involvement impacts a series of
behavioural decisions (Zaichkowsky, 1986). Three involvement
models, the ‘‘involvement conceptual and methodological
perspectives model’’ postulated by Houston and Rothschild (1978),
the ‘‘involvement conceptualizing model’’ proposed by Zaichkow-
sky (1986), and the ‘‘involvement conceptualizing & measuring
model’’ postulated by Andrews, Durvasula, and Akhter (1990) are
examined to understand how involvement concepts may be used to
explain consumer behaviour.
Houston and Rothschild (1978) classified involvement into
situation involvement, enduring involvement, and response
involvement. Situation involvement explains how consumers
attend to objects or things under certain situations, focusing on
consumers’ non-personal factors. Enduring involvement identifies
consumers paying attention to objects or things for relatively
515
longer periods of time, which emphasizes personal characteristics.
Response involvement is a state of mind combining situation and
enduring involvement, and reflects a consumer’s decision-making
according to complex cognitive and behavioural processes.
Zaichkowsky (1986) proposed three antecedents of involve-
ment. Firstly, personal factors signify inner values, such as needs,
importance, interest, and values that would change one’s particular
experiences, and in return, impact one’s involvement with the
object. The second factor impacting involvement is an object or
stimulus associated with the physical characteristic of communi-
cation media (TV, radio, print). Therefore, different alternatives,
communication content, or sources of communication would
influence involvement. The third is situational factors that are
related to use, purchase, and occasion. In addition to these factors,
and based on consumers’ behavioural responses to different situ-
ations, Zaichkowsky classified involvement into three domains:
product involvement, ad involvement, and purchase involvement.
Andrews et al. (1990), following several research streams,
proposed a framework for the conceptualisation and measurement
of an involvement construct. In this framework, the involvement
construct’s antecedents, properties, measures, potential problems,
and consequences were examined. Andrews et al. (1990) argued
that involvement possesses three major properties: intensity,
direction, and persistence, which decide how individuals respond
to external stimuli. Involvement intensity means ‘‘the degree of
arousal or preparedness of the involved consumer with respect to
the goal-related object’’ (p. 29). The level of intensity varies and is
influenced by the difference of product types, situations, and
individual conditions. Involvement direction refers to the target
object or problem that causes the stimulus. Among them, the
antecedents of involvement (purchase occasion, personal needs,
and perceived risks of decision) would influence the direction of
involvement or object selection on the part of the consumer.
Involvement persistence indicates the duration of involvement
intensity. Thus, consumers would have different levels of involve-
ment due to product type, purchase occasion, sales activity
(direction), and comparatively short or long time periods (persis-
tence). As for the antecedents of the involvement construct, they
can be attributed to personal needs, goals, and characteristics as
well as situational and decision factors. These antecedents would
lead to different levels of involvement; subsequently, search
behaviour, information processing, and persuasion of consumers
would also differ.
The above three theories constitute the major original concepts
of the involvement construct, and most following researches
employ one of the above theories as a core concept of involvement.
For example, Drichoutis, Kazarudus, and Nayga (2007), based on
Andrews et al. (1990), used individual characteristics, situational
and attitudinal factors, product knowledge, and information search
to identify the factors influencing food product class involvement.
Wang, Pallister, and Foxall (2006) combined Zaichkowsky’s
involvement model (1986) with a cognitive adaptive–innovative
style, and examined the purchase decision involvement in regard to
specific Internet shopping behaviours.
2.3. Advertising effect measuring models
With respect to the measurement of ad effect, Stewart and Furse
(1986) claimed that recall, recognition, reasoning, attitude change,
and purchase intention need to be taken into consideration. Engel,
Blackwell, and Miniard (1990) and Bush, Smith, and Martin (1999)
argued that the consumers’ attitude would ultimately influence
their purchase intention. In several studies reviewed for this study,
we found that ad attitude (Mitchell & Olson, 1981; MacKenzie, Lutz,
& Belch, 1986; Homer, 1990), brand attitude (Lutz, 1985; MacKenzie
516 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526
ad ad ad ad
I I
b b b b
ATH DMH
ad ad ad ad
I I
b b b b
RMH ITH
Keys
Cad represents ad cognition
Cb represents brand cognition
Aad represents attitude toward ad
Ab represents brand attitude
I represents purchase intention
Fig. 2. ‘‘Attitude mediation model’’ proposed by MacKenzie et al. (1986).
& Lutz, 1989; MacKenzie et al., 1986; Muehling, 1987; Shimp, 1981;
Thorson, 1981), ad memory (Edell & Keller, 1989; Ha, 1996), and
purchase intention (MacKenzie et al., 1986; Ko, 2002; Kavadas,
2003) are four major factors used for measuring ad effect. The
following describes three advertising effect measuring models.
MacKenzie et al. (1986) proposed ‘‘the moderating influence
model of attitude’’ (shown in Fig. 2), which depicted the multiple
relationships between ad cognition and ad attitude (Cad / Aad),
brand cognition and brand attitude (Cb / Ab), brand attitude and
purchase intention (Ab / I). Four hypotheses proposed are given as
follows:
2.3.1. Affect transfer hypothesis (ATH)
This hypothesis argues that ad attitude could directly influence
brand attitude without swaying brand cognition. That is, a well-
designed ad could increase the desirability for an audience and
transfer their affective response to brand loving, and furthermore,
onto a reinforced purchase intention.
2.3.2. Dual mediation hypothesis (DMH)
This model claims that brand attitude can be influenced indi-
rectly through brand cognition, except for the direct effect
proposed by ATH. The relationship between ad attitude and brand
cognition (Aad / Cb) represents the concept of ad effect, namely,
the source of ad messages can produce the persuasion effects on
increasing or decreasing consumers’ brand cognition and fondness
or distaste for a particular brand.
2.3.3. Reciprocal mediation hypothesis (RMH)
This hypothesis is based on the Balance Theory postulated by
Heider (1946). RMH assumes that consumers’ ad attitude and brand
attitude form an inter-influenced causal relationship, tending
toward maintaining a balance, either liking both the brand and ad
or disliking them both. Furthermore, the intensity of the causal
relationship depends on the situations or consumers’ personal
needs.
2.3.4. Independent influences hypothesis (ITH)
The ITH model claims there is no causal relationship between
the ad attitude and brand attitude; instead, the ad attitude or brand
attitude can independently help to determine purchase intention.
Ko (2002) proposed an ‘‘equilibrium model of Internet interac-
tive advertising.’’ In this study, the operational interactivity was
defined under two dimensions: human–message interaction and
human–human interaction. Human–message interaction is related
to people’s interaction with message usage behaviours, while
human–human interaction involves two-way communication
between message senders and receivers. The ad effect measure-
ment in this study was examined through the structure of Internet
interactivity, attitude toward the site, brand attitude, and purchase
intention.
Kavadas (2003) postulated ‘‘direct-to-consumer advertising
(DTCad),’’ which used the fear appeal theory to explain consumers’
risk perception, and the applied involvement theory to illustrate
consumers’ cognition concerning ad messages. Involvement,
message memory, ad attitude, brand attitude, and behavioural
intention were examined to explore the ad effect of pharmacy
advertisements.
This study found that the involvement theories proposed by
Houston and Rothschild (1978), Zaichkowsky (1986), and Andrews
et al. (1990) depict three major factors that determine the ante-
cedents of an involvement construct and the involvement extent of
bloggers; they include personal, product, and situation factors. For
the measurement of ad effect, this study adopts the independent
influences hypothesis (ITH), one of the four ad effect hypotheses
proposed by MacKenzie et al. (1986), as the basic assumption on the
relationship between consumers’ ad attitude and brand attitude in
the Internet context. Additionally, the advertising effect models
proclaimed and examined by Ko (2002) and Kavadas (2003) are
applicable for establishing a ‘‘consumers’’ behavioural intention
model incorporating the involvement construct and ad effect.
3. Research methods
3.1. Variables selection and research framework
The present study employs an empirical approach to explore the
effect of involvement level, ad effect, and bloggers’ purchase
intention in regard to travel products on the Internet. Synthesizing
the involvement theories proposed by Houston and Rothschild
(1978), Zaichkowsky (1986), and Andrews et al. (1990), as well as
the ad effect measuring models empirically examined by MacK-
enzie et al. (1986), Ko (2002), and Kavadas (2003), this research
framework is conducted as shown in Fig. 3. Involvement constructs
include personal, product, and situation factors. The interaction
between involvement and ad effect has been extensively examined
(Andrews et al., 1990; Celsi & Olson, 1988; Helweg-Larsen & Howell,
2000; Hirschman & Wallendorf, 1982; Houston & Rothschild, 1978;
James & Kover, 1992; Krugman, 1965; Leong, Ang, & Tham, 1996;
Raman & Leckenby, 1998; Norris & Colman, 1992; Petty, Cacioppo, &
Schumann, 1983; Richines & Bloch, 1986; Tavassoli, Shultz, & Fitz-
simons, 1995). The literature suggests that when consumers have
high levels of involvement, they tend to receive the most
Ad
memory
Personal
factor
Product Involvement Ad Purchase
factor attitude intention
Situation
factor
Brand
attitude
Fig. 3. The theoretical framework.
 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526
information related to that product, and thus pay more attention to
ads for information. On the other hand, when consumers are not
highly motivated to process ad content, they do not devote them-
selves to message-related thinking. In other words, motivation to
process ad information is greatly influenced by the extent of
involvement and thus influences the effectiveness of advertising.
Within this research framework, it is supposed that the extent of
involvement (subjective to three antecedents) does influence ad
effect (i.e., ad memory, ad attitude, and brand attitude). Purchase
intention is influenced either by ad effect or directly by involve-
ment level.
3.2. Research hypotheses
Several studies provide empirical evidence for the relationships
among involvement, ad effect, and purchase intention. Ad memory
or recall was influenced by the extent of personal involvement
(Frankenberger & Albaum, 1997; Leigh & Menon, 1986) and product
involvement (Lowrey, 2006). More interesting content and adver-
tisements usually trigger greater involvement and deeper ad
memory imprinting when viewers did not view the ads as
a distraction (Lloyd & Clancy, 1991). Similarly, Celsi and Olson (1988)
claimed that the features of strong involvement help to situate
consumers in a prominent environment with more stimuli;
increased reasoning and thinking on the part of consumers lead to
enhanced ad information cognition and memory. With respect to
the relationship between involvement level and ad effect, the liter-
ature shows that when readers are exposed to an ad that is full of
persuasive information, a better ad attitude will result (James &
Kover, 1992; Leong et al., 1996; Petty et al., 1983). Moreover, brand
attitude and purchase intention are more closely correlated to a high
level of involvement rather than to a low level of involvement (Ko,
2002; Petty et al., 1983). On the basis of the variable relationships
constructed in the research framework and the previous literature
that was reviewed, the following hypotheses are offered.
H1: Bloggers’ involvement is positively related to ad effect.
1a: Bloggers’ personal involvement will be positively related to
ad memory.
1b: Bloggers’ product involvement will be positively related to
ad memory.
1c: Bloggers’ situation involvement will be positively related to
ad memory.
1d: Bloggers’ personal involvement will be positively related to
ad attitude.
1e: Bloggers’ product involvement will be positively related to
ad attitude.
1f: Bloggers’ situation involvement will be positively related to
ad attitude.
1g: Bloggers’ personal involvement will be positively related to
brand attitude.
1h: Bloggers’ product involvement will be positively related to
brand attitude.
1i: Bloggers’ situation involvement will be positively related
to brand attitude.
1j: Bloggers’ personal involvement will be positively related to
purchase intention.
1k: Bloggers’ product involvement will be positively related to
purchase intention.
1l: Bloggers’ situation involvement will be positively related to
purchase intention.
H2: Bloggers’ involvement has positive influence on ad memory.
H3: Bloggers’ involvement has positive influence on ad attitude.
H4: Bloggers’ involvement has positive influence on brand
attitude.
517
H5: Bloggers’ involvement has positive influence on purchase
intention.
H6: Bloggers’ ad memory has positive influence on purchase
intention.
H7: Bloggers’ ad attitude have positive influence on purchase
intention.
H8: Bloggers’ brand attitude have positive influence on purchase
intention.
3.3. Survey subjects and sampling procedure
As has been stated, travel blogs can be found in vast numbers
among blog hosting services in Taiwan, such as Yahoo-Kimo,
Wretch, Roodo!Blog, MSN Space, Xuite, PChome blog, Sina blog,
Yam Sky blog, and Taiwan Site of Blog Country. The survey subjects
consisted of the owners of travel blogs and active travel blog visi-
tors (browsing, responding, and sharing experiences). It was
believed that active blog visitors would devote more time and
patience in reading information in travel blogs.
To specifically locate target groups and subjects, purposive
sampling was adopted. Therefore, whenever a blog classified as
‘‘travel’’ in the above-mentioned blog hosts was found, the elec-
tronic recruiting message for the survey was distributed and posted
on that blog. Furthermore, active blog visitors were identified from
the travel blogs and the questionnaires were sent to them. To
confirm the validity and representation of the subjects, the
requesting messages were posted on ‘‘comments/leave a reply’’ and
questionnaires were mailed directly to the specified persons; these
approaches were expected to enhance the validity of the survey
subjects.
To empirically examine the complex relationships between the
variables proposed in the research framework, Structural Equation
Modelling (SEM) was adopted. Accordingly, a ‘‘large’’ sample size
was required to pursue precision in statistical estimation and
representation of sampling. Boomsma (1982) demonstrated that
400 samples are sufficient for SEM estimation; moreover, several
authors (e.g. Marsh, Hau, Balla, & Grayson, 1998; Marsh & Hau,
1999) agreed to that number; and that ‘‘more is better.’’ Schu-
macker and Lomax (1996) found that most of the SEM researches
had sample sizes of around 200–500. Thus, this study, following
Boomsma’s suggestion (1982), set up 400 subjects as the expected
sampling number.
3.4. Questionnaire design
On the basis of the theoretical reviews and research framework,
the questionnaire comprises four parts: (1) travel bloggers’ level of
involvement with respect to personal involvement, product
involvement, and situation involvement; (2) ad effect on bloggers
in terms of ad memory, ad attitude, and brand attitude; (3) the
purchase intention of travel bloggers; (4) demographic character-
istics of travel bloggers, such as gender, age, education, occupation,
blog hosting service used, types of blogs in which participation
occurred, the frequency of information sharing, and the frequency
of receiving useful information. The detailed questionnaire design
is as follows:
3.4.1. Operational definition of variables
3.4.1.1. Personal involvement. Travel bloggers’ response to ad
messages in terms of the level of their inner needs, interests, and
values, that is, personal values, needs, and interests, are the
essential antecedents leading to various levels of involvement.
3.4.1.2. Product involvement. The features of the travel product,
such as perception risks, price, symbolic meaning, endurance,
518 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526
pleasure, importance, brand, purchase duration, and the like, could
influence bloggers’ level of involvement. When a travel product
stimulates bloggers’ purchase desire, the level of bloggers’ product
involvement is raised.
3.4.1.3. Situation involvement. Travel bloggers, when surfing, come
upon blogs, and the situations they face include product commu-
nication, purchase, usage, risk perception, etc. Different situations
can lead bloggers to various levels of involvement.
3.4.1.4. Ad memory. The ability to recall or recognize an ad
message, and the level of memory, indicates whether ad messages
are appealing to travel bloggers.
3.4.1.5. Ad attitude. Ad attitude refers to the preference travel
bloggers show in response to ad messages on blogs.
3.4.1.6. Brand attitude. Brand attitude refers to the desirability level
travel bloggers experience in response to a specific brand.
3.4.1.7. Purchase intention. After accessing the ad messages,
purchase intention refers to the bloggers’ intention to purchase that
product.
3.4.2. Measuring instrument
The measurement scales and items used in this study mainly
refer to several previous studies. Following are the details regarding
the measurement composition. All of the designed measurements
were rated on a 7-point Likert scale from strongly disagree (3) to
strongly agree (3).
3.4.2.1. Personal involvement. Zaichkowsky (1985) first composed
a bipolar adjective scale to measure personal involvement, the
Personal Involvement Inventory (PII). Along with that, Barki and
Hartwick (1994) amended PII and proposed a positive semantic
scale for personal involvement measurement: (1) essential, (2)
fundamental, (3) significant, (4) important, (5) needed, (6) relevant
to me, (7) of concern to me, (8) matters to me, (9) means a lot to me,
(10) exciting, and (11) of interest to me. Six questions, adapted from
the questionnaire items by Zaichkowsky (1985), as well as Barki
and Hartwick (1994), were used to measure bloggers’ personal
involvement.
3.4.2.2. Product involvement. McQuarrie and Munson (1992)
amended Zaichkowsky’s (1985) product involvement inventory,
and changed the measure into positive semantic scales: for
example, relevant, interesting, important, interested, of concern to
me, and so forth. Six questions, devised from Zaichkowsky (1985)
and McQuarrie and Munson’s measurement inventory (1992), were
used in scoring travel bloggers’ product involvement.
3.4.2.3. Situational involvement. Several situation factors influ-
encing involvement were brought up by Hansen (1972), Belk
(1975), Zaichkowsky (1985, 1986), as well as Andrews et al. (1990).
These factors all relate to use occasion, purchase occasion, time
pressure, external environment, perceived risk, object usage, etc.
Six questions, referring to the studies by Hansen (1972), Belk
(1975), and Zaichkowsky (1985), were designed to measure blog-
gers’ situational involvement.
3.4.2.4. Ad memory. As for the classification and measurement of
ad effect, Norris and Colman (1992) classified ad memory into two
types: ad recall and ad recognition. Recall of product types, brand
names, and advertisements add up to an ad recall score; and
recognition of product types, brand names, and advertisements
Table 1
The mean and Cronbach’s alpha reliability of each measure.
Variables Mean Cronbach’s alpha
Personal involvement 1.12 0.81
Product involvement 1.39 0.59
Situational involvement 1.25 0.78
Ad memory 0.67 0.89
Ad attitude 1.26 0.83
Brand attitude 0.71 0.91
Purchase intention 1.24 0.81
yield an ad recognition score. Referring to Norris and Colman
(1992), eight question items were adopted to assess ad memory
levels of bloggers.
3.4.2.5. Ad attitude. Six bipolar semantic items to measure this
construct were devised, from questionnaire items designed by
Mitchell and Olson (1981), MacKenzie et al. (1986), Muehling and
Laczniak (1988), Homer (1990), and Bezjian and Calder (1998). The
semantic scale consists of favourable or unfavourable, interesting or
boring, impressed or unimpressed, fascinating or mundane, etc.
3.4.2.6. Brand attitude. MacKenzie et al. (1986) composed seven
semantic scale items to measure brand attitude, such as favourable
or unfavourable, good or bad, wise or foolish, valuable or worthless,
etc. Five questionnaire items were conducted, adapted from Haley
and Case (1979), MacKenzie et al. (1986), Batra and Ray (1986),
Anand and Sternthal (1990), Shimp, Stuart, and Engle (1991), and
Bezjian and Calder (1998) to rate travel bloggers’ brand attitude.
3.4.2.7. Purchase intention. Adapted from the questionnaire items
proposed by Haley and Case (1979), MacKenzie et al. (1986), Anand
and Sternthal (1990), and Shimp et al. (1991), four semantic
differential scale items, including: likely or unlikely, probable or
improbable, possible or impossible, and worthy or worthless, were
developed to measure bloggers’ purchase intention.
4. Analysis and results
4.1. Questionnaire collection and sample characteristics
The questionnaires were mailed or sent to, and collected, from
the 900 above-identified survey subjects during the month of
November 2006. Among them, 428 travel bloggers responded, and
30 questionnaires were incomplete, which amounted to 398 valid
responses, for a valid response rate of 44%.
The characteristics of valid travel blogger subjects are as follows:
(1) Sex: 318 female (79.9%) and 80 male2; (2) Age: almost half of the
subjects are between the ages of 26 and 30, 47.7% (189 subjects); (3)
Education: up to 280 subjects hold a bachelor’s degree; (4) Occu-
pation: students predominate (90 subjects, 22.6%); (5) Blog hosting
services: Wretch are visited the most (269 subjects, 67.6%); (6)
Types of blogs visited: journal blogs are visited the most (276
subjects, 69.3%); (7) Frequency of information sharing: ‘‘often’’ is
the most observed (168 subjects, 42.2%); (8) Frequency of receiving
useful information: ‘‘often’’ is the majority (238 subjects, 59.8%).
4.2. Reliability of measures
Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were computed to assess the
internal reliability of the measures used in this study. Except for the
2
The questionnaire was 1:1 proportionally distributed between female and male
bloggers. The return result showed a higher percentage of female respondents.
 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526 519

Table 2
Pearson correlations between individual variable.a

Personal involvement Product involvement Situation involvement Ad memory Ad attitude Brand attitude
Product involvement 0.492**
Situation involvement 0.514** 0.341**
Ad memory 0.331** 0.318** 0.359**
Ad attitude 0.454** 0.331** 0.703** 0.383**
Brand attitude 0.407** 0.326** 0.424** 0.535** 0.565**
Purchase intention 0.415** 0.440** 0.468** 0.475** 0.552** 0.575**

*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

a
The counted sample number in statistics is 398.

product involvement variable (a ¼ 0.59), all remaining variables
had a Cronbach’s alpha level over 0.70 (reported in Table 1), which
indicates high internal reliability. The lower reliability from the
product involvement variable might be related to the specialty of
the travel product. For travel bloggers, information and online
word-of-mouth are their main search targets; thus, although there
is no actual tangible contact with the ‘‘product,’’ the targeted
information would be enough to induce bloggers’ purchase
behaviour. In other words, bloggers, facing travel advertisement
stimuli on the Internet, respond in a more superficial way
compared with their usual involvement in regard to physical
products. For this reason, the internal reliability of product
involvement tends to be low.
4.3. Variable correlations
Pearson correlations between individual variables in this study
were administered. As shown in Table 2, individual variable
correlations were all significant, and ranged from 0.318 to 0.703. As
expected, the result supports Hypothesis 1. Among them, bloggers’
situation involvement was highly related to ad attitude (r ¼ 0.703).
This result demonstrated that travel blogs with rich travel infor-
mation and personalized consulting platforms provide an infor-
mative, convenient, entertaining, and interactive environment,
which is helpful in enhancing bloggers’ user attitude and cognition
regarding the ad. This study found that product involvement and ad
memory were lowly correlated (r ¼ 0.318). This finding may occur
because travel products for purchasing depend mainly on infor-
mation and word-of-mouth concerning the targeted products,
regardless of whether they are purchased at actual stores or via
online travel agencies. As soon as travel bloggers obtain the desired
information, they may not pay more attention to the items related
to ad memory, such as price, symbolic meaning, pleasure, brand
feasibility, etc. That is, ad messages in travel blogs are likely to be
neglected within a short time frame.
4.4. Level of involvement and ad effect
To examine whether travel bloggers with different levels of
involvement leads to different ad effects, a t-test between high-
involvement and low-involvement subjects was carried out. First,
based on respective scores from each involvement construct, scores
3w0.01 were classified as low involvement and scores 0–3 as
high involvement. The results indicate that, in terms of the two
levels of subjects in personal, product, or situation involvement,
they are all correspondingly significantly different in correlation to
ad memory, ad attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention.
This result was similar to the findings in several studies (Celsi &
Olson, 1988; Frankenberger & Albaum, 1997; James & Kover, 1992;
Ko, 2002; Leigh & Menon, 1986; Leong et al., 1996; Lowrey, 2006).
That is, travel bloggers with high involvement in travel issues
would be more highly motivated to process the information on
blogs and have favourable thoughts about ads, and furthermore, are
far more likely to strengthen their purchase intention.
4.5. Confirmatory factor analysis
4.5.1. Involvement construct analysis
Created by Maximum Likelihood Estimation (ML), a first-order
and one-dimensional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was
computed to test three involvement constructs: personal, product,
and situation involvement, respectively. Squared Multiple Corre-
lation (SMC) was used as a criterion for assessing the construct
reliability of manifest variables or indicators. Several studies
suggest the SMC should be higher than 0.5 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988;
Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998); but
Taylor and Todd (1995) argued that the SMC should be over 0.4.
According to Taylor and Todd, this study deleted the indicators with
SMC lower than 0.4. Product involvement had three low levels of
construct reliability (SMC ¼ 0.06, 0.14, 0.36). Since travel products
are characterised by their nonphysical nature, several (but not all)

Table 3
CFA results: revised model for bloggers’ involvement construct.

Latent variables Manifest variables Construct loadings t values Measurement error SMC (R2) Composite reliability Variance extracted
Personal involvement X3 0.68 – 0.54 0.46 0.82 0.53
X4 0.83 12.83** 0.31 0.69
X5 0.71 11.79** 0.50 0.50
X6 0.69 11.54** 0.53 0.47

Product involvement X7 0.25 – 0.94 0.06 0.63 0.34

X9 0.37 3.86** 0.86 0.14
X11 0.60 4.31** 0.64 0.36
X12 0.89 3.92** 0.20 0.80

Situation involvement X13 0.68 – 0.54 0.46 0.79 0.50

X14 0.83 11.90** 0.32 0.68
X15 0.62 10.34** 0.61 0.39
X16 0.65 10.64** 0.58 0.42

p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

520 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526

Table 4 Table 6
Measurement of overall model fit for involvement construct: null and revised model. Measurement of overall model fit for advertising effect construct: null and revised
model.
Fit measurements (general criteria) Null model Revised model
Chi-square (c2) (Smaller is better) 773.7 350.9 Fit measurements (general criteria) Null model Revised model
Degree of freedom 135 54 Chi-square (c2) (Smaller is better) 1781.39 1075.19
RMSEA (<0.05) 0.10 0.09 Degree of freedom 230 135
GFI (>0.9) 0.82 0.87 RMSEA (<0.05) 0.13 0.13
AGFI (>0.9) 0.77 0.81 GFI (>0.9) 0.72 0.77
AGFI (>0.9) 0.66 0.71

indicators having low reliability scores were deleted. Although X7

had a low reliability level, it was preserved due to being critical to
the statistical iteration, and essential to the construct. Thus, X1 and
X2 were removed from personal involvement construct; X8 and X10
were removed from product involvement construct; and X17 and
X18 were removed from situation involvement construct. The
modified constructs and indicators are described in Table 3.
Excepting the variance extracted for product involvement, all of the
involvement constructs exceeded the recommended composite
reliability level (0.60) and variance extracted measure (0.50)
(Bagozzi & Yi, 1988).
Table 4 demonstrates the overall model fit measurement of the
revised model. The root mean square error of approximation
(RMSEA) of 0.09, within 0.08 and 0.10, showed an ordinary fit
(Browne & Cudeck, 1993; MacCallum, Browne, & Sugawara, 1996).
In addition to the general criteria (0.08–0.10), MacCallum et al.
(1996) also suggested 0.1 as an acceptable RMSEA value. The
revised model had Absolute Fit Measures: goodness-of-fit index
(GFI) of 0.87 and an adjust goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) of 0.81,
which were a bit lower than the ideal threshold values. MacCallum
and Hong (1997) suggested the criteria be loosened to 0.8.
Accordingly, all the above measures of the overall model fit fell
inside the acceptable ranges.
4.5.2. Advertising effect analysis
Four constructs from ad effect, including ad memory, ad atti-
tude, brand attitude, and purchase intention, were examined
through the above-mentioned ML method and CFA procedure.
Here, Y1, Y2, and Y3 were deleted from ad memory. Additionally, Y14
was removed from ad attitude and Y20 was taken out of purchase
intention (See Table 5). As a result, both the composite reliability
and variance extracted in each advertising effect construct were
eligible (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988).
The measurement of overall model fit (shown in Table 6) for ad
effect fell short of the recommended level. Since all of the
composite reliability and variance extracted met the requirements
for measurement model fit, the revised model was preserved.
4.6. Structural model analysis
After the above confirmatory factor analysis process, the revised
structural model was examined through model fit measurements;
the results are reported in Table 7. The likelihood-ratio chi-square
value of 989.09 was statistically significant at the 0.001 level, which
demonstrated that the model was not an adequate representation
of the entire set of causal relationships. Long and Long (1983) noted
that the chi-square value in SEM is sensitive to, and affected by, the
sample size, that is, the chi-square test becomes more sensitive as
the number of sample size rises. Generally, when the sample size is
over 200, the chi-square test easily reaches significance level and
rejects the null hypothesis. Bagozzi and Yi (1988) also suggested
that sample size be taken into consideration by the chi-square
value against the degree of freedom. The smaller the value, the
better the model fit. Several studies argued that the value (chi-
square value against the degree of freedom) should be less than 3 if
it reaches a rigorous level (Carmines & McIver, 1981; Chin & Todd,
1995; Hair et al., 1998). As the value of chi-square with the degree of
freedom was 2.5, the model fit was at a perfectly acceptable level.
Complementing the basic measures, absolute fit measures were
also examined. The GFI value of 0.86 and the AGFI value of 0.83 both
fell a bit lower than the general criteria (0.9). By employing meta-
analysis from 184 papers using SEM in marketing and consumer
fields, Baumgartner and Homburg (1996) found that the value of
GFI or AGFI less than the criteria value (0.9) amounted to 24% and
48%, respectively. On the basis of this finding, the GFI and AGFI in

Table 5
CFA results: revised model for bloggers’ advertising effect construct.

Latent variables Manifest variables Construct loadings t values Measurement error SMC (R2) Composite reliability Variance extracted
Ad memory Y4 0.64 – 0.59 0.41 0.92 0.69
Y5 0.86 14.21*** 0.25 0.75
Y6 0.87 14.31*** 0.24 0.76
Y7 0.87 14.33*** 0.24 0.76
Y8 0.87 14.33*** 0.24 0.76

Ad attitude Y9 0.70 – 0.51 0.49 0.87 0.58

Y10 0.68 12.37*** 0.54 0.46
Y11 0.84 14.90*** 0.30 0.70
Y12 0.86 15.25*** 0.26 0.74
Y13 0.70 12.79*** 0.51 0.49

Brand attitude Y15 0.81 – 0.34 0.66 0.93 0.71

Y16 0.84 19.58*** 0.29 0.71
Y17 0.86 20.15*** 0.26 0.74
Y18 0.86 20.03*** 0.26 0.74
Y19 0.85 19.80*** 0.28 0.72

Purchase intention Y21 0.82 – 0.33 0.67 0.87 0.69

Y22 0.85 17.55*** 0.27 0.73
Y23 0.82 17.15*** 0.33 0.67

*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526 521

Table 7 Table 8
Goodness-of-fit measures for SEM: bloggers’ purchase intention model. Path analysis of bloggers purchase intention model.

Evaluative measurements General criteria Indices results Exdogenous variables Endogenous variables Path correlation t value
Chi-square (c2) Smaller is better 989.09 (p ¼ 0.000) Involvement Ad memory 0.48** 7.58
With degree of freedom <3 2.5 Ad attitude 0.90** 11.64
NCP Smaller is better 326.32 Brand attitude 0.70** 12.31
RMSEA <0.05 0.062** Purchase intention 0.19 0.79
GFI >0.9 0.86**
Ad memory Purchase intention 0.16** 2.93
AGFI >0.9 0.83**
NFI >0.9 0.95 Ad attitude Purchase intention 0.06 0.29
NNFI >0.9 0.96
CFI >0.9 0.97 Brand attitude Purchase intention 0.44** 5.54
IFI >0.9 0.97 *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.
RFI >0.9 0.94
PGFI >0.5 0.73
PNFI >0.5 0.86 (g ¼ 0.06). Among the seven hypotheses in the theoretical model to
be verified, five were supported at the significance level of 0.01. The
results failed to support Hypotheses 4 and 6. In this model, the
this revised structural model were at a marginally acceptable level. explained variance (R2) by endogenous variables to the full model
The RMSEA value of 0.062, falling between 0.05 and 0.08, indicated was ad memory (0.23), ad attitude (0.80), brand attitude (0.48), and
that the revised structural model could be deemed as adequate purchase intention (0.52), respectively.
(Browne & Cudeck, 1993; MacCallum et al., 1996). As for the One further step was taken to estimate the explained variances
incremental fit measures, the value of the normed fit index (NFI), of involvement and purchase intention caused by the three medi-
non-normed fit index (NNFI), comparative fit index (CFI), incre- ators: ad memory, ad attitude, and brand attitude. The explained
mental fit index (IFI), and the relative fit index (RFI), were all larger variance of the purchase intention by involvement and ad memory
than the threshold of 0.9. Furthermore, the values of the parsimony variables accounted for 0.0768 (R2 ¼ 0.48*0.16). Ad attitude
goodness-of-fit index (PGFI) and parsimony normed fit index mediating both involvement and purchase intention was insignif-
(PNFI) were over the threshold of 0.5, which illustrated that the icant. Brand attitude mediated the involvement and purchase
model had reached a parsimonious level. intention at the explained variance of 0.308 (R2 ¼ 0.70*0.44). With
The path diagram and structural equation were estimated and regard to the intention to purchase the travel products on the
specified through SEM, and the causal relationships and correla- Internet, travel bloggers involved in ad messages appear not to be
tions of each path are shown in Fig. 4. The path correlations influenced by their ad attitude; however, they were easily affected
(standardized coefficient weights) between exogenous and by their brand attitude or ad memory.
endogenous variables (see Table 8) were all statistically significant According to the above analysis, the extent of travel bloggers’
(at p ¼ 0.01) except for the correlation between involvement and involvement in ad messages positively influences ad memory,
purchase intention (g ¼ 0.19), or ad attitude and purchase intention which supports Hypothesis 2. This finding is consistent with the

Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8
0.60 0.83 0.85 0.85 0.85

Ad
memory

R2=0.23

0.48**
0.16**

Y9 Y10 Y11 Y12 Y13 Y2

Personal 0.61 0.65 0.77 0.81 0.71
involvement R =0.52 0.79
2
0.61
Ad Purchase 0.77
Product 0.43 Y2
Involvement 0.90** attitude 0.06 intention
involvement
0.85 R2=0.80 0.79
Situational Y2
involvement 0.44**
0.70** 2
R =0.48

Brand
attitude
0.19

0.80 0.83 0.83 0.84 0.82

Y15 Y16 Y17 Y18 Y19

Fig. 4. Path diagram and causal relationships: travel bloggers’ purchases intention model.
522 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526
results found in the studies by Celsi and Olson (1988), Schumann,
Petty, and Clemons (1990), Tavassoli et al. (1995), as well as Leong
et al. (1996). We suppose that the content in travel blogs could lead
to different levels of blogger involvement; as well, the content
might be related to bloggers’ attention to ad messages or memory.
Boring information produces low involvement, and vice versa.
Therefore, when bloggers read interesting content in blogs, they
become more involved in blog-like thinking and reasoning, and
store ad memories deeper.
With respect to involvement and ad attitude, we found that the
extent of travel bloggers’ involvement in ad messages positively
influences ad attitude; therefore, Hypothesis 3 stands. The result is
similar to the finding by Petty et al. (1983), Schumann et al. (1990),
James and Kover (1992), as well as Tavassoli et al. (1995). Since
a large amount of interesting travel-related information can be
browsed in travel blogs, such as spot features, diaries, photos,
personal consultation, word-of-mouth, consumers’ reports, etc.,
travel blogs are believed to be creditable and reliable by bloggers.
For this reason, stimulated by persuasive messages, bloggers have
persistent and better preferences or attitudes regarding the travel
blogs.
Concerning involvement and brand attitude, we found that the
level of travel blogger involvement in ad messages positively
influences brand attitude. The finding supports Hypothesis 4 and
agrees with the result found by Petty et al. (1983). This result
might occur because travel bloggers themselves are highly inter-
ested in travel products; they will automatically analyze ad
messages and evaluate ad brands. Specifically, facing a certain
brand, bloggers may consider and evaluate each feature of the
product of interest. Consequently, when a travel product brand
matches the blogger’s feelings or ideals, the blogger may increase
her/his preference for the brand and deem the brand as highly
friendly and reliable.
As for involvement and purchase intention, there is no influence
from the extent of travel bloggers’ involvement in ad messages on
their purchase intention, so that Hypothesis 5 is not supported. This
result is different from that found by Zaichkowsky (1986), Oke-
chuku (1992). Theories and past empirical studies indicate that
involvement level does influence purchase intention. The result
found by this study might be explained from two perspectives: (1)
Travel blog fans, under the circumstances of the virtual Internet,
have relatively high feelings about, and interests in, blog content,
but they have a lower sense of security and a more hesitant attitude
toward the intangible travel products on the Internet. As Torkzadeh
and Dhillon (2002) found, factors influencing online purchases
were mainly related to Internet vendor trust and the customers’
perceived value of the product browsed from the web. Owing to the
number of travel disputes and deceptive advertisements related to
travel products in Taiwan, bloggers demand more persuasive
evidence, such as a notable agent brands or certified contracts, to
ensure trustworthiness in purchasing online travel products.
According to the Travel Quality Assurance Association (2007), 8052
travel disputes were reported in the period from 1990 to March
2007. These disputes, including itinerary and air flight problems,
contract breaches, ill-intentioned bankruptcy, and so forth, all
seriously violated consumer rights and raised the risk perception
concerning purchasing travel products on the Internet. (2) Besides,
the impact of involvement level on a purchase decision might be
mixed (Lloyd & Clancy, 1991). Park and Lee (2008) found that low-
involvement consumers paid more attention to product popularity
for purchase intention, while high-involvement consumers
preferred more information processing for making purchase deci-
sions. This study found that while overall involvement motivates
travel bloggers to process ad information, it has no significant or
direct effect on purchase intention.
With regard to ad memory and purchase intention, the travel
bloggers’ ad memory was positively influenced, and purchase
intention was strengthened. Hypothesis 6 stands and agrees with
Braun (1997). Since travel blogs appeal to travelers with rela-
tively abundant information, we believe that bloggers would be
more willing to read messages posted on the Internet and over
again, thus producing deeper memory of the product. As a result,
when bloggers were highly impressed by a blog and derived
a positive cognition on the travel products or services, they
would be more likely to purchase the travel product on the
Internet.
We found no positive influence of travel bloggers’ ad attitude on
purchase intention, which fails Hypothesis 7. This outcome differs
from the arguments by Mitchell and Olsen (1981), ITH hypothesis of
MacKenzie et al. (1986), or Laczniak and Muehling (1993). The
different result might be explained as thus: even if travel bloggers
favour ad messages with features like friendly information, perti-
nent to consumers, explicit and persuasive expression in blogs, all
of which contribute to a more favourable ad attitude, travel prod-
ucts on the Internet still retain their intangible nature or low sense
of security. That is, the bloggers’ cautious mind-set, inspite of
a good ad attitude, may decrease the possibility of purchasing
a travel product on the Internet.
Travel bloggers’ brand attitude has a positive influence on
purchase intention, as was confirmed in this study, supporting
Hypothesis 8. Mitchell and Olsen (1981), Shimp (1981), Petty et al.
(1983), MacKenzie et al. (1986), as well as Ko (2002) also derived
similar results. In this study, advertisements of certain brands were
presented in the blogs. We assumed that bloggers would evaluate
these brands according to the brands’ outstanding strengths and
features; we also compared these features with the bloggers’
personal needs. Brands constitute an essential factor in terms of
vendor trust and risk reduction in an online shopping environment
(Lwoin & Williams, 2006). Therefore, when travel bloggers had
a preference for a certain brand, they would be more likely to
acquire the product.
Under the influence of involvement level and ad effect, bloggers’
behavioural intention differs in certain aspects. More specifically,
the purchase intention of travel bloggers is primarily influenced by
brand attitude; secondly, by ad memory, and insignificantly, by ad
attitude. On the basis of these findings, it can be said that travel
bloggers, though interested in travel products and blog informa-
tion, consider brand as the primary factor in making their purchase
decision. Furthermore, due to the intangible nature of travel
products and a low sense of security on the Internet, no matter
whether bloggers prefer the ad messages or not, ad attitude has no
significant effect on purchase intention. In brief, even if travel
bloggers had a high involvement in, or a preference for, certain
travel products, they would have to trust the brand’s reputation to
purchase that product. Ad attitude is essential in influencing brand
attitude. This result is consistent with the Affect Transfer Hypoth-
esis (ATH) postulated by MacKenzie et al. (1986). Beldona et al.
(2005) argued that travel webs provide both informational and
transactional contexts. Apparently, based on this research, travel
blogs seem to serve more as an informational function prior to
purchase decision. This function is quite different from travel Webs,
where ads are directly related to the Web hosts and companies and
transaction links are already in place. In other words, travel blog-
gers’ fondness for ad messages would transfer their feelings to
brand preference, and then increase their purchase intention.
Travel bloggers, through understanding ad messages regarding
travel products presented in blogs, enhance their brand attitude as
well as their purchase intention. In the midst of the process, ad
attitude plays a role in persuasion, which raises or lowers the level
of ad message reception.
 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526 523

5. Conclusion credibility, the opinions and comments of bloggers are an area of

concern. Specifically, biased or over-commercialized statements
Four major findings emerge from this research. First, this study would prevent bloggers from reading the content further, or create
hypothesized a structural equation model of involvement level, a hesitant attitude. Overall, blogs constitute a good promotion
advertising effect, and purchase intention in the context of travel channel; however, over-advertising will damage or decrease the
blogs. In light of the increasing travel blog services and blog perceived truthfulness and credibility of the content. Similarly,
marketing trend, this research makes important contributions to over-commercializing, or sharing ad benefits with bloggers may
the body of knowledge concerning travel blog marketing. result in untruthful blog content. For example, restaurants or brand
Second, the results demonstrate the positive impact of introductions are intensively recommended on purpose to attract
involvement on ad effect that can be verified in travel blog envi- ad sponsorship. Whenever financial gain is involved, posted infor-
ronments. Synthesizing the results from this study and past mation in blogs may be deceitful, causing the information-sharing
researches, we find that when consumers are highly interested in benefit among blogs to diminish or even disappear. When using
the products, their personal association with the product grows travel blogs as a marketing tool, the psychological variation in
closer. That is to say, travel bloggers’ level of involvement still has bloggers’ involvement needs to be seriously considered to
a positive influence on ad message processing in terms of ad encourage a better ad attitude and avoid negative effects.
memory, ad attitude, and brand attitude as with traditional media
like TV commercials or print ads. Moreover, this study shows how
5.1. Limitations and suggestions for future studies
different travel bloggers with low and high levels of involvement
significantly differ in each dimension of ad effect. This implies that
Because of the tremendous number of blogs, the survey range of
high-involvement travel bloggers more easily form favourable
this study is restricted to travel-type blogs being created in the
impressions of ads on travel blogs.
above-mentioned blog hosting services registered in Taiwan. Other
Third, as to the relationship between ad effect and purchase
types of blogs containing travel issues were excluded from this
intention, this study found that when taking ad memory, ad attitude,
research.
and brand attitude as mediating variables between involvement
Taking the independent influence hypothesis by MacKenzie
level and purchase intention, brand attitude most influences
et al. (1986), this study assumed there is no relationship between
purchase intention on the Internet. Nevertheless, ad attitude plays
ad attitude and brand attitude. However, the empirical finding
a key role in persuasion, which could increase or reduce the accep-
undermined this assumption. The result was more consistent with
tance of message content, and thereby influence brand attitude. The
the dual mediation models proposed by MacKenzie et al. (1986).
results imply that travel blogs play a good role in ad messages pro-
The adequate situation may be tested in accordance with product
cessing; this information forms ad attitude, which is essential in
types. Besides, the samples are not representative of general
forming brand attitude. Due to a practical demand for transactional
Internet users, since they were drawn form users who love, or
trust and risk reduction in an online shopping context, favourable
actively respond to, travel blogs. This approach may narrow the
brand attitude is mediated by ad attitude and has more efficacious
generalisation potential of the research results. For future studies,
features in helping to increase purchase intention.
a larger sampling scale is recommended. Owing to limitations in
Finally, involvement level is not significantly nor directly influ-
time, labour, and expenses for research, only travel blogs were
ential with regard to purchase intention. This result may be
surveyed in this study. The ad attitude toward intangible travel
explained by the mixed impact from the extent of involvement or
products is easily influenced in the process of brand attitude
from practical consumers’ greater mistrust when purchasing
formation and purchase decision. To expand and improve the
intangible travel products in an online context.
research results, surveys of other types of products should be
Several implications and suggestions are made in the following:
carried out to help verify whether the ad effect path is the same.
This study empirically found that travel blogs communicate in
a highly transparent and socially interactive fashion. For the
promotion of electronic and online travel products, marketing
effectiveness via travel blogs can be expected. As for blog service
providers, further analysis of user demands and the continuous Appendix (Questionnaire).
improvement of functions and quality are highly recommended. Construct items, mean and standard deviation
The level of involvement is essential in regard to ad effect. Thus,
on the practical side, due to some specific topics appealing to travel Involvement factors

bloggers with common interest, it is suggested that travel blogs be Item Meana SD

differentiated with individual trips, package tours, eco-tours, and Personal X1 I am interested in reading blogs about 2.35 0.79
involvement travel information, diaries, photos and
set up in accordance with individual preference to generate
consumers reports.
a massive cluster effect. X2 When reading travel information in 2.04 0.87
The brand is the most influential factor of ad effect on purchase blogs, I feel the information is
intention; as a result, brand management is essential to business appealing.
marketers. Brand provides the evaluative factors of product repu- X3 When reading travel information in 0.55 1.15
blogs, I feel the travel products are
tation, business image, product quality, credibility, and so on. Once
wanted.
consumers form more favourable ad attitude and brand attitude, X4 When reading travel information in 0.66 1.21
their purchase intention will be more pronounced. Travel product blogs, I feel the travel products are
marketers would gain more from good business operation and important.
X5 When reading travel information in 0.40 1.35
quality as these are fundamental factors that attract consumers,
blogs, I feel the travel products are
rather than savvy advertising blogs or brochures. relevant to my life.
In terms of travel blog content, the travel bloggers interested in X6 When reading travel information in 0.70 1.25
posted articles usually have high involvement; and at the same blogs, I feel the travel products mean
time, they are more enthusiastic about presenting personal and a lot to me.

subjective opinions in the blog environment. With regard to (continued on next page)
524 C.-Y. Huang et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 513–526

Appendix (continued) Appendix (continued)

a
Item Mean SD Item Meana SD
Product X7 I am interested in travel products. 1.68 1.09 Brand attitude Y15 For the travel products shown in the 0.61 1.11
involvement X8 Travel products are essential to me, 0.35 1.65 travel blogs that I have ever browsed,
thus it is difficult for me to choose I like its brand.
among various ones. Y16 For the travel products shown in the 0.79 1.12
X9 Purchasing travel products means to 1.63 1.25 travel blogs that I have ever browsed,
reward myself. I think the brand is reliable.
X10 When I bought an inappropriate travel 1.81 1.28 Y17 For the travel product shown in the 0.79 1.11
product, I would feel upset and travel blogs that I have ever browsed,
troubled. I think the brand is friendly.
X11 I could understand her/him by the 1.14 1.25 Y18 For the travel product shown in the 0.80 1.09
travel product that she/he has chosen. travel blogs that I have ever browsed,
X12 The travel products I purchase 1.72 1.06 I think the brand is of value.
symbolize part of my personality and Y19 For the travel product shown in the 0.58 1.10
character. travel blogs that I have ever browsed,
I think the brand is of good quality.
Situation X13 I think travel blogs provide good 1.22 1.09
involvement efficiency in information searching. Purchase Y20 I like spend time in browsing travel 1.47 1.21
X14 I think travel blogs provide sufficient 1.11 1.06 intention blogs.
travel information. Y21 I’d like to purchase credible and 0.97 1.14
X15 I think personal consultation platforms 1.56 1.03 worthwhile travel products posted in
provided by travel blogs is convenient. travel blogs.
X16 I think the word-of-mouth and 1.14 1.17 Y22 I’d like to recommend other people 1.08 1.25
reputation shown in travel blogs are for the credible travel products
reliable. posted in travel blogs.
X17 I think information receiving process 1.42 1.19 Y23 Next time to purchase similar travel 1.46 0.98
on travel blogs is free from being products, I’d like to take the same
interfered by sales persons or friends. credible travel blogs into account.
X18 I would like to spend more time in 1.02 1.39 a
Scale was rated from 3 to 3.
searching for the best price of the same
quality products in travel blogs.
a
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Ad memory Y1 I could remember most of the ad
contents in travel blogs that I have
ever browsed.
Y2 Reading ad information in travel
blogs would reinforce my impression
on the travel product.
Y3 I am able to describe the ad contents
in travel blogs that I have ever
browsed.
Y4 When having access to similar ad
information, I would recall the travel
blogs that I have ever browsed.
Y5 I could remember the brand name of
the travel product that I have ever
browsed in travel blogs. (like Time
travel)
Y6 The brand name of the travel product
in travel blogs would reinforce my
impression on that product.
Y7 I could tell the brand name of the
travel product in travel blogs that I
have ever browsed.
Y8 When having access to similar ad
information, I would recall the brand
name of the travel product.
Ad attitude Y9 I think information in travel blogs
could be easily understood.
Y10 I think travel blogs provide abundant
of travel product information.
Y11 I think information in travel blogs is
needed to consumers.
Y12 I think information in travel blogs is
specific and persuasive.
Y13 I think information in travel blogs is
reliable.
Y14 I would be very likely to browse
travel blogs over again.
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