Purpose: The purpose of this research paper was to determine which needs for incentives influence positive word-of-mouth (PWOM) among international tourists and how these needs differ based on the cultural orientation toward individualism and collectivism.

Design/methodology/approach: This research used online surveys to gather data from 959 Australian, US, UK, Japanese and Korean respondents who had visited Beijing. A random sampling method was used, and data were analyzed using SmartPLS 4.0. By adopting the existence relatedness growth theory, the findings explain how cultural orientation affects the impact of needs for incentives in generating PWOM.

Findings: Three hypothesized relationships were significant for Australia/UK/USA and Japan/Korea – the effect of needs for incentives on motivation, the effect of motivation on PWOM and the effects of needs for incentives on PWOM were significant and positive for Australia/UK/USA and Japan/Korea. The effect of needs for incentive type on motivation varied across national populations, and the intensity of the effects of needs for incentive type on PWOM was also different. For Australian, UK and the US tourists, the honorary title was the most influential need to stimulate word-of-mouth motivation. The need for cultural learning was the most influential for Japanese and Korean tourists.

Originality/value: This research contributes to the literature by exploring and comparing the needs for incentives that influence PWOM among tourists from the perspective of individualism and collectivism. The results also increase the understanding of the relationships among needs for incentives, motivation and PWOM.

摘要

研究目的 – 本研究旨在确定哪些激励需求会影响国际旅游者的积极口碑（PWOM）, 以及这些激励方式 的影响在个人主义和集体主义文化取向的群体中有何不同。

设计/方法/途径 – 本研究通过在线调查收集了 959 名曾到访北京的澳大利亚、美国、英国、日本和韩国 的国际游客数据。研究采用了随机抽样的方法, 使用 SmartPLS 4.0 对数据进行了分析。基于ERG理论, 本 研究解释了文化如何影响激励类型对积极口碑的影响。

研究结论 – 研究结果显示, 三个假设关系在澳大利亚/英国/美国和日本/韩国两个群组中均显著, 即激励需 求对动机的影响、动机对积极口碑的影响、以及激励需求对积极口碑的影响在澳大利亚/英国/美国和日 本/韩国群组中都是显著和正向的。激励需求类型对动机和积极口碑的影响在不同国家群体中存在差 异。对于澳大利亚、英国和美国的国际游客, 满足名誉需求的激励对产生积极口碑动机的影响更大。对于 日本和韩国的国际游客, 满足文化学习需求的激励对产生积极口碑动机的影响更大。

原创性 – 本研究从个人主义和集体主义的角度, 探讨比较了影响国际旅游者积极口碑的激励需求, 为相关 领域研究做出了贡献。研究结果加深了对激励需求、动机和积极口碑之间关系的理解。