Forced Exposure and Psychological Reactance towards Online Advertising in the Tourism Industry

Advertising has become a popular marketing activity in tourism industry. The purpose of the study was to examine consumers’ feedback towards online tourism advertising with the adoption of Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT). Specifically, we investigated the relationship between consumers’ reactance (freedom arousal & anxiety arousal) and its antecedent (forced use) and consequences (perceived value & behavioral intention). The results indicate that consumers’ forced use negatively influences freedom arousal, which in turn positively leads to perceived value. In contrast, consumers’ forced use positively impacts anxiety arousal, which consequently negatively generates perceived value. The present study provides the theoretical foundation for future studies on tourism advertising. The findings could give industry practitioners suggestions on online advertising design and assist them to predict consumers’ behavior.