Persuasive Architecture of Tourism Destination Websites: An Analysis of First Impression

Abstract

This study contributes to the development of scales for measuring the persuasiveness of destination websites, and it also contributes theoretical and empirical findings on the substantial influence of first impressions toward websites on the consumer persuasion process. Additionally, this research confirms that the Elaboration Likelihood Model is applicable to the context of first impression formation in destination websites. It is expected that the findings of this study provide destination marketers with meaningful insights into design guidelines for persuasive architecture of destination websites. This thesis ends by discussion of the limitations of present research and the directions for future research.