Impact of Social Media on Decision-Making Behavior of Putaojiu Tourists: The Negative Moderating Role of Objective Knowledge

With an emphasis on the moderating influence of subjective Putaojiu knowledge, this study uses the Information Adoption Model (IAM) to analyze factors influencing Putaojiu tourists’ decision-making intentions. The decision-making intentions of Chinese Putaojiu tourists in the context of social media are ignored by current tourism research, and the importance of Putaojiu knowledge in the decision-making process is not explored. Argument quality, eWOM, perceived usefulness, decision-making intention, subjective and objective knowledge are integrated into the research paradigm. The finding reveals that argument quality and eWOM positively impact perceived usefulness, and perceived usefulness positively affects decision-making intents, mediating the factors influencing wine tourists’ decision-making intention, according to a survey of 432 respondents in the Helan Mountain wine area of Ningxia. Interestingly, the relationship between argument quality and perceived usefulness is negatively moderated by objective knowledge. This study offers ramifications for Putaojiu tourism locations and management organizations as well as theoretical support for some aspects of the impact of social media on wine tourist behavior.