Prior to the place-based tourism experience: understanding how TripAdvisor can influence the visiting perception (National Railway Museum, Portugal)

Abstract

Railway museums, despite being one of the most relevant dimensions of railway tourism, present a limited number of studies, which is even more evident in the case of research on the role of online communication tools, namely the comments (favorable and unfavorable) made by social media participants regarding their tourist experience. The main objective of this study is to analyze the National Railway Museum's (Portugal) TripAdvisor to understand the visitor's perspective and the effect of electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) on (dis)satisfied consumers' perception influencing future (re)visitation. The research methodology used a qualitative analysis using Microsoft Excel, Dedoose, and WordItOut.com. We examined and related the netnographic data – reviews and uploaded images – in the assessment to discuss the importance of satisfaction for e-WOM recommendation and (re)visitation.  The results reveal compelling data on the relationship between satisfaction and recommendation, as well as the traveling situation and most exciting exhibition attractions, that museum managers should consider when willing to offer better visitor satisfaction and generate (higher) recommendations (e-WOM) and revisitation. Likewise, the results supply vital feedback so staff can improve their performance.