Information overload in digital tourism marketing: Challenges and opportunities for enhancing purchase intentions

Abstract

The fast growth of digital marketing in the tourism sector requires an understanding of its impact on tourist purchase intentions. Digital marketing strategies, including social media marketing, search engine marketing, content marketing, and email campaigns, play a crucial role in shaping consumer decisions. However, information overload may weaken these effects, making it essential to examine its moderating role. This study explores how digital tourism marketing influences tourists’ willingness to buy and assesses the extent to which information overload moderates these effects. Using a quantitative research approach, data were collected in July 2024 through online surveys and field investigations in four Chinese provinces: Henan, Anhui, Hunan, and Jiangxi. A total of 681 valid responses were analyzed using Ordered Probit (Oprobit) models to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings confirm that digital tourism marketing positively impacts tourists’ purchase intentions, but excessive information weakens these effects. Notably, information overload reduces the effectiveness of social media marketing and search engine marketing, while its impact on content marketing and email campaigns is less pronounced. This study uniquely contributes to the literature by not only confirming the positive influence of digital tourism marketing on purchase intentions but also by systematically analyzing the moderating role of information overload, offering empirical insights into how marketers can refine digital strategies to mitigate its adverse effects and enhance consumer decision-making in the tourism sector.