The effect of Word of Mouth on Domestic Tourist's Decision for Traveling to Foreign Countries

Word of mouth (WOM) is a powerful promotional instrument and an important information source influencing on attitudes and purchasing decision of consumers. It plays a critical role in services in which quality of consumers’ beliefs affects their choice. WOM has a particular importance in tourism industry because intangible products cannot be used before consumption. The current study aims to investigate using WOM as an information source among tourists. Population is Iranian tourists who have travelled to foreign countries during the period of the research. Conducting a pilot test، sample size was estimated 138 people. Convenience sampling plan was employed to collect data. To test hypotheses، one-sample t-test، Pearson correlation، regression analysis and analysis of variance was used. Results revealed that word of mouth has a significant impact on tourists’ decision for travelling inbound countries. Further، age، gender، education، and travel experience had a significant impact on using word of mouth. However، Trip purpose had not significant effect on using word of mouth.