Human beings are intrinsically social. How social interaction among tourists affect their experience remains under-represented. Drawing on S-O-R theory, social integration theory and social penetration theory, this study proposes and empirically tests a conceptual model that integrates self-disclosure, perceived cohesion, perceived intimacy, tourist engagement and tourist satisfaction with the experience. Also, the tie strength is theorized as a moderator in the relationship between self-disclosure and perceived cohesion as well as perceived intimacy. A field experiment was undertaken to collect data. The results from the structural analysis suggest that self-disclosure influences perceived cohesion and perceived intimacy, which in turn influence their engagement and satisfaction with tourism experience. Moreover, the initial tie strength has moderation effect on the relationship between self-disclosure and perceived cohesion as well as perceived intimacy. Overall, findings of this study contributes to the development of tourism experience research from the perspective of tourist-to-tourist interaction, and broadens the research on tourist engagement. Discussions and implications for tourism operators, limitations, and suggestions for future research are also provided.

• Meng Zhang(Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China)
• Hongxia Lin(Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China)
• Xiaorong Fu(Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China)