Perceived risk influence on dual-route information adoption processes on travel websites

This article investigates how perceived risk (PR) affects individual information adoption processes on travel websites. The study integrates perceived travel risk into an information adoption model which draws from the elaboration likelihood model, a dual-process theory of persuasion. The final sample consists of 212 successful questionnaires. The study uses structural equation modeling to evaluate the conceptual model and hierarchical regression analysis to test the moderating effects. The results show that argument quality (a central route) and source credibility (a peripheral route) effectively persuade customers to adopt information on travel websites via perceived usefulness (PU). Findings suggest that perceived risk significantly increases information adoption intention directly and via perceived information usefulness indirectly, and has a great moderating effect on the peripheral route. The results from reanalysis of the data using fsQCA (fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis) determine that the combination of PR and PU is sufficient for information adoption intention. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.