Mechanism of Online Tourism Destination Brand Experience on Tourism Destination Word-of-mouth

Prior to visiting a destination, customer rely on social media and various digital platforms to acquire information and form an online tourism destination brand experience. Understanding how online tourism destination brand experience translates into actual recommendation and sharing behaviors is vital for tourism destinations seeking to gain competitive advantage.Drawing on questionnaire surveys and structural equation modeling analyses, the results reveal that online tourism destination brand experience not only positively influences destination word-of-mouth but also exerts a significant positive effect on online tourism destination brand credibility. Meanwhile, online tourism destination brand credibility significantly influences destination word-of-mouth and partially mediates the influence of online tourism destination brand experience on destination word-of-mouth, with the indirect effect accounting for 34.9% of the total effect. The core innovation of this study is as follows. It introduces online brand experience theory into the pre-trip online decision-making context. This broadens both the theoretical applicability of the framework and the decision stage under investigation. It also reveals the psychological mechanism through which online tourism destination brand experience drives destination word-of-mouth. The findings offer a theoretical foundation and practical reference for destination management organizations and cultural-tourism enterprises in formulating targeted marketing strategies.