Digital personalities: an examination of the online identity of travel and tourism web sites

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify whether travel and tourism related web sites derive a certain personality type.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed the ten‐item personality inventory (TIPI) measure to assess personality dimensions of 188 tourism web sites including airlines, hotels, cruise lines, casinos, restaurants, and government funded travel web sites. Data analysis of 413 cases was conducted through mean comparisons and ANOVA.FindingsData identified web sites representing different segments of the hospitality and tourism industries do vary in relation to online personalities. More specifically, web sites for venues such as casinos were represented as extraverted while lodging web sites were deemed more conscientious.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study aimed to identify web site personalities of businesses within the tourism segment, not all categories were represented. Furthermore, response choices were limited only 20 of the personality objectives from the TIPI personality scale were examined.Practical implicationsThis study demonstrated different personality characteristics are represented through tourism web sites, indicating providers may need to focus their web presence in a manner which engages potential travellers based on such features.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the body of scholarly research related to TIPI and further demonstrates consumer awareness and preference for web sites which augment their personality.