Tourist motivations for choosing platform-mediated free tours: An application of extended planned behaviour theory

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53596/e0jbbr87

Abstract

Platform-mediated free tours in major European cultural cities, where they are notably prominent, remain underexplored in academic literature, despite their role as a contributing factor to overtourism in some instances. This research explores the characteristics of this tourism phenomenon by investigating consumers’ motivations and interactions with it. This is accomplished through a quantitative approach using Ajzen’s well-established theory of planned behaviour (TPB), which has demonstrated its efficacy in predicting various intentions and behaviours. A structural equation model (SEM) was constructed to shed light on the determinants of tourists’ choice of platform-mediated free tours. Our extended TPB model includes trust in the platform eWOM, sustainability values and online loyalty constructs. The results provide insight into tourists’ decision-making processes and validate the TPB’s efficacy in explaining a substantial portion of the variance in purchase intentions for online platform-based free tours.

Author Biographies

  • Jorge Rivera García, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

    After first completing studies in Tourism and getting a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration & Management, Jorge Rivera completed a Master in Sustainable Tourism. He is currently a researcher and PhD student at the Tourism Doctoral School in the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies of the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), doing a thesis focused on Platform Economy. He reads and writes articles related to tourism intermediation and disintermediation, sustainable tourism and the platform economy in tourism.

  • Dr. Eneko Ibarnia, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

    Dr. E. Ibarnia holds a PhD in Tourism and is a lecturer in Tourism and Business Administration degrees, as well as in the Master’s program in Sustainable Tourism and ICT at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). He also collaborates as a professor in the Master’s in Gastronomic Tourism at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián. His academic work includes publications in articles and book chapters on topics such as tourism intermediation, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility.

    Professionally, he has extensive experience in the travel agency sector since 1995 and has been the manager of Grupo Viajes Samarkanda. 

  • Dr. Julie Wilson, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

    Dr. Julie Wilson is Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), specializing in tourism geographies and sustainability. She holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of West of England and has received numerous prestigious fellowships, including Marie Curie, Fulbright Schuman, and Beatriu de Pinós. Dr. Wilson is a founding member of the NOUTUR Research Group and Chair of the Tourism, Leisure, and Global Change Commission of the IGU. Her research focuses on sustainable tourism, platform economy geographies, and socio-spatial transformations. She has published extensively, led major international projects, and received awards such as the Roy Wolfe International Prize and the John Rooney Prize from the AAG.

  • Dr. Pau Obrador, Newcastle Business School

    Dr.Obrador is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Events Management at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. With a BA in Sociology (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and a PhD in Human Geography (Durham University), their internationally recognized research explores the intersections of place, culture, tourism, and management. A key contribution is the concept of "dwelling-in-mobilities," alongside work on family tourism, beach sensualities, critical hospitalities, and platform economies. A Senior Fellow of the HEA, they serve on the editorial board of Tourist Studies and contribute to critical tourism discourse, with a focus on the Balearic Islands.

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Published

2025-12-12

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 2 (2025): JTA-Revista Análisis Turístico

Section

Artículos

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Jorge Rivera Garcia, Eneko Ibarnia Caspistegui, Julie Wilson, Pau Obrador

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

Tourist motivations for choosing platform-mediated free tours: An application of extended planned behaviour theory. (2025). Journal of Tourism Analysis Revista De Análisis Turístico (JTA), 32(2). https://doi.org/10.53596/e0jbbr87