The Role of Electronic Word-of-Mouth in Heritage Tourism: A Systematic Review

Tourism is a key economic sector for developing countries, with heritage tourism gaining significant popularity. eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) plays a crucial role in shaping consumer behavior by sharing experiences and opinions. Understanding this behavior is essential for developing strategies to attract tourists to heritage sites. This research aims to map the role of eWOM in heritage tourism and to gain more in-depth knowledge about the consumer behaviour of tourists in heritage tourism. This systematic literature review was conducted in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). A total of 30 papers have been reviewed as part of this study from databases that are previously known for their high article quality. The results show that eWOM positively influences the destination image of heritage tourism, indirectly affecting trust and driving tourist satisfaction, loyalty, travel intention, and other factors such as performance expectancy, social influence, and consumer satisfaction. DMOs can benefit from incorporating eWOM's spontaneous narratives, aligning with evolving tourist interests and enhancing content accuracy and engagement. There are several theoretical foundations that commonly used for examining eWOM in heritage tourism, which are Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Online Social Network (OSN), and Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB).