TRAVEL INFLUENCER ATTRACTIVENESS, TRUSTWORTHINESS, AND CONTENT EXPERTISE: ATTITUDE-MEDIATED BEHAVIORAL INTENTION TO VISIT RECOMMENDED POST-DISASTER DESTINATIONS
Published:
2026-09-23Downloads
Abstract
This study examines how travel influencer attractiveness, trustworthiness, and content expertise influence behavioral intention to visit recommended post-disaster destinations through attitude toward a travel influencer. The research focuses on Central Aceh and Bener Meriah, Indonesia, and applies the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework. An online questionnaire yielded 155 eligible responses from Aceh residents who used TikTok, had viewed travel influencer content, and had previously visited either destination. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling in SmartPLS. Attractiveness and content expertise positively influenced attitude, whereas trustworthiness did not have a significant effect. Attitude and attractiveness positively influenced behavioral intention, while the direct effects of trustworthiness and content expertise were not significant. Attitude partially mediated the attractiveness-intention relationship and fully mediated the content expertise-intention relationship; the trustworthiness-mediated relationship was not significant. The model explained 74.0% of the variance in attitude and 78.3% in behavioral intention. Content expertise was the strongest predictor of attitude. The findings support selecting influencers for their content competence and appealing presentation, while emphasizing favorable audience attitudes in post-disaster tourism communication.
Keywords:
Attitude toward a travel influencer Attractiveness Behavioral intention Content expertise Trustworthiness.References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211.
Alamäki, A., Pesonen, J., & Dirin, A. (2019). Triggering effects of mobile video marketing in nature tourism: Media richness perspective. Information Processing & Management, 56(3), 756–770.
Ao, L., Bansal, R., Pruthi, N., & Khaskheli, M. B. (2023). Impact of social media influencers on customer engagement and purchase intention: A meta-analysis. Sustainability, 15(3), 2744.
Babu, N. A., & Philip, B. (2025). From posts to passports: The role of social media influencers in shaping international travel decisions. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 73(1), 126–140.
Cao, X., Qu, Z., Liu, Y., & Hu, J. (2021). How the destination short video affects the customers’ attitude: The role of narrative transportation. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 62, 102672.
CNN Indonesia. (2026). 225 destinasi wisata di Aceh rusak akibat banjir dan longsor. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20260114132418-20-1316965/225-destinasi-wisata-di-aceh-rusak-akibat-banjir-dan-longsor
Hair, J., & Alamer, A. (2022). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in second language and education research: Guidelines using an applied example. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 1(3).
Han, J., & Chen, H. (2022). Millennial social media users’ intention to travel: The moderating role of social media influencer following behavior. International Hospitality Review, 36(2), 340–357.
Hovland, C. I., Janis, I. L., & Kelley, H. H. (1953). Communication and persuasion. Yale University Press.
Leung, F. F., Gu, F. F., Li, Y., Zhang, J. Z., & Palmatier, R. W. (2022). Influencer marketing effectiveness. Journal of Marketing, 86(6), 93–115.
Liu, J., Wang, Y., & Chang, L. (2023). How do short videos influence users’ tourism intention? A study of key factors. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1036570.
Lou, C., & Yuan, S. (2019). Influencer marketing: How message value and credibility affect consumer trust of branded content on social media. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 19(1), 58–73.
Manthiou, A., Ulrich, I., & Kuppelwieser, V. (2024). The travel influencer construct: An empirical exploration and validation. Tourism Management, 101, 104858.
Matiza, T., & Slabbert, E. (2024). The celebrity influencer: Delineating the effect of tourism-oriented short video marketing on international tourist conation. Journal of Global Marketing, 37, 331–349.
Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). An approach to environmental psychology. MIT Press.
Pop, R. A., Săplăcan, Z., Dabija, D. C., & Alt, M. A. (2022). The impact of social media influencers on travel decisions: The role of trust in consumer decision journey. Current Issues in Tourism, 25(5), 823–843.
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. J. (2019). Research methods for business: A skill building approach (8th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Serrano-Malebrán, J., Campos-Núñez, F., Vidal-Silva, C., Veneros-Alquinta, D., Zuñiga-Contreras, F., & Ahumada-Gutierrez, D. (2025). From search engines to social influence: A stimulus-organism-response model of travel influencers on TikTok. Frontiers in Communication, 10, 1649647.
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Rouza Fakriza, Sapna Biby, Syamsul Bahri, Naufal Bachri, Mariyudi, Ikramuddin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
