Rural Tourism: Does Personal Motivation Play a Role as Reference Group Mediation on Tourist Word of Mouth?

Abstract

This study aims to examine the influence of reference groups through personal motivation on word of mouth of waterpark tourists in Sumbergondo Village, Banyuwangi Regency, Indonesia. This research is descriptive-based quantitative research with a research population of visitors to the waterpark, while the sample used is 125 people using the accidental sampling method. The data source of this research is primary data obtained from respondents' answers to the questionnaire. The analytical tool used is Path Analysis and the Sobel test to determine the significance of the mediating role of the personal motivation variable. The results of this study indicate that there is a significant influence between the reference group on word of mouth. In addition, the reference group also influences personal motivation. The results of the Sobel test also show that own motivation has a perfect mediating role in the relationship between the reference group and word of mouth. This research implies that village tourism managers must pay attention to interesting information, and recruit someone who can be used as a brand ambassador for village tourism. So that this condition can be a motivation to visit tourists in the hope that tourist satisfaction can be a positive word of mouth.

Keywords: Reference Group, Personal Motivation, Word of Mouth.