From Information to Independence: Understanding How Online Travel Reviews Shape Traveller Empowerment

Travellers frequently rely on online travel reviews (OTRs) to plan their trips independently, but how these reviews contribute to traveller empowerment is unclear. To address, this study draws on Psychological Empowerment Theory and Dual-Process Theory to examine how two aspects of OTRs, that is informational and normative attributes, shape travellers’ sense of empowerment during travel planning. Our findings show that informational cues (e.g. argument quality, information consistency) and people’s opinions (e.g. recommendation ratings, recommendation consistency) enhance traveller empowerment, which in turn contributes to satisfaction with OTR use. Further analysis shows that empowerment partially mediates the effects of information consistency and argument quality, while the effects of recommendation consistency and recommendation rating on satisfaction operate through empowerment. The findings highlight empowerment as an important outcome of engaging with OTRs and provide new insight into how online review environments influence travellers’ confidence and autonomy in travel decision-making.