Travel blogs on China as a destination image formation agent: A qualitative analysis using Leximancer

• Published in: Tourism management (1982) Vol. 46; pp. 347 - 358
• Main Authors: Tseng, Chi, Wu, Bihu, Morrison, Alastair M., Zhang, Jingru, Chen, Ying-chen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2015
• Subjects: China; Destination image formation; Leximancer; Travel blogs; User-generated content (UGC); Travel blogs; Leximancer; User-generated content (UGC); Destination image formation; China
• ISSN: 0261-5177; 1879-3193
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2014.07.012

The Internet spreads tourism information around the world and specifically travel blogs function as an online version of word-of-mouth (eWOM). This research explored the role of blogs as a destination image formation agent for China's inbound tourism. Data were collected from 630 bloggers who wrote on two blog websites about their travels within China in 2011 and 2012. The bloggers on TravelBlog.org and TravelPod.com were mainly from English-speaking countries. Qualitative analysis using Leximancer software was applied and identified nine major textual themes and the relationships among these themes. In order of relative importance, the themes were place, Chinese, people, food, train, city, hotel, China, and students. The research indicated that international tourists tended to have positive images of China. •Detected nine major themes about Mainland China's destination image.•Place, Chinese, people, and food were the four most important themes.•International tourists had positive images of Mainland China.•Some negative impressions were found as well.•A majority of blogs were from five English-speaking countries.