FACTORS AFFECTING THE USER-GENERATED CONTENT ON THE TOURISTS' DECISION-MAKING BEHAVIOR OF FOOD TOURISTS

Abstract

This study aims to 1)establish the direct impact mechanism of UGC core elements on the
decision-making of food tourists; 2) identify the mediating role of psychological perception in the
influence of UGC on decision-making; 3)analyze and validate an integrated model of UGC influence on
decision-making in food tourism; 4) establish a decision support strategy framework driven by UGC
optimization. This study employed an online survey survey to collect empirical data from 435 food
tourists in China who had traveled to Liuzhou and relied on user-generated content (UGC) in their
decision-making process. A purposive sampling method was adopted to select participants who had
demonstrably engaged with UGC platforms—such as Rednote, Weibo, and other tourism. Then,
structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to process the data. The findings reveal that the core
elements of user-generated content (UGC)—namely, information quality, visual cues, content creator
expertise, and platform professionalism—exert significant positive effects on food tourists’
decision-making behavior, with platform professionalism emerging as the most salient predictor.
Furthermore, the results demonstrate that all three psychological perception factors—perceived value,
perceived trust, and perceived experience—serve as mediators in the relationship between UGC
elements and decision-making behavior, with particular emphasis on the critical role of perceived
experience in bridging platform-related cues and tourist actions. These findings offer practical insights
for stakeholders in the food tourism sector, underscoring the necessity of targeted interventions aimed at
strengthening the linkage between UGC and psychological perception, enhancing tourists’ awareness of
credible information sources, and ultimately improving decision-making outcomes in food tourism
contexts.