Warmth That Cannot Be Bought: Farmer-Visitor Interaction as a Word-of-Mouth Communication Channel in Indonesian Agrotourism

Nina Mistriani; John J.O.I. Ihalauw; Sony Heru Priyanto

doi:10.62951/momat.v3i4.724

Authors

Nina Mistriani Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata Ambarrukmo
John J.O.I. Ihalauw Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata Ambarrukmo
Sony Heru Priyanto Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata Ambarrukmo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62951/momat.v3i4.724

Keywords:

Agritourism, Farmer-Visitor Interaction, Revisit Intention, Stimulus-Organism-Response, Word-Of-Mouth Communication

Abstract

Destination marketing communication in agritourism is generally analysed through paid channels and social media, while direct interaction between farmers and visitors is rarely treated as a communication channel in its own right. This study aims to explain how the warmth of farmer-visitor interaction triggers word-of-mouth communication and how it relates to revisit intention in Indonesian agritourism. A qualitative approach using Straussian Grounded Theory procedures was applied. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with twenty-four informants across five agritourism destinations, namely Agro Rakyat, Hortimart Agro Center, Jatiluwih, Arjuna Farm, and Agrowisata Sodong as a contrasting comparison, complemented by observation and document tracing, then analysed using NVivo 14 through open and axial coding. Findings show that warmth and emotional closeness in interaction appeared in 23 of 24 data sources. What visitors found memorable was not standardised friendliness but farmers' willingness to share the difficulties of their work and the feeling of being received as a guest. The observed pathway consistently follows the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, with the encounter as stimulus, satisfaction and emotional attachment as internal state, and revisit intention, recommendation, and social media storytelling as response. The study concludes that encounter quality constitutes a communication investment, and proposes sincerity as a candidate service quality dimension requiring further testing.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Arenas, J. S. V., Rodríguez, C. A. B., & Rosas, A. A. F. (2023). Review of the characteristics preferred by clients in agritourism scenarios. Periodica Polytechnica Social and Management Sciences, 31(1), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPso.19159

Borges-Tiago, M. T., & Avelar, S. (2025). Co-creation dynamics in tourism and hospitality: A horizon 2050 paper. Tourism Review. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-06-2024-0500

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory. SAGE Publications.

Choo, H., & Petrick, J. F. (2014). Social interactions and intentions to revisit for agritourism service encounters. Tourism Management, 40, 372–381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2013.07.011

Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2015). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. SAGE Publications.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2023). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE Publications.

Damayanti, T. A., & Indrawati. (2023). The effect of social media quality, social media quantity, social media credibility and e-WOM on revisit intention: Destination brand awareness and destination satisfaction as intervening variables. Quality - Access to Success, 24(196), 87–97. https://doi.org/10.47750/QAS/24.196.12

Deng, C. D., Peng, K.-L., & Shen, J. H. W. (2023). Back to a post-pandemic city: The impact of media coverage on revisit intention of Macau. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism, 24(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1528008X.2021.2002788

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine Publishing.

Guerreiro, M., Pinto, P., Bagheri, F., & Matos, N. (2025). Broadening tourism experience and destination image: A cross-cultural approach between international and domestic tourists. European Journal of Tourism Research, 39, 3903.

Guleria, A., Joshi, R., & Adil, M. (2024). Impact of memorable tourism experiences on tourists’ storytelling intentions: An empirical investigation. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 10(1), 280–301. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-07-2023-0135

Hu, Y., & Xu, S. (2021). Memorability of a previous travel experience and revisit intention: The three-way interaction of nostalgia, perceived disappointment risk and extent of change. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 20, 100604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2021.100604

Kim, Y., Ribeiro, M. A., & Li, G. (2022). Tourism memory characteristics scale: Development and validation. Journal of Travel Research, 61(6), 1308–1326. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211033355

Kumar, S., Jain, A., & Hsieh, J.-K. (2021). Impact of apps aesthetics on revisit intentions of food delivery apps: The mediating role of pleasure and arousal. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 63, 102686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102686

Liang, A. R.-D., Hsiao, T.-Y., Chen, D.-J., & Lin, J.-H. (2021). Agritourism: Experience design, activities, and revisit intention. Tourism Review, 76(5), 1181–1196. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-10-2019-0438

Lin, H., Zhang, M., & Gursoy, D. (2022). Effects of tourist-to-tourist interactions on experience cocreation: A self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Travel Research, 61(5), 1105–1120. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211019476

Manosuthi, N., Lee, J.-S., & Han, H. (2020). Predicting the revisit intention of volunteer tourists using the merged model between the theory of planned behavior and norm activation model. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 37(4), 510–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2020.1784364

Mistriani, N. (2026). Pergeseran paradigma agrowisata berkelanjutan: Studi grounded di Indonesia. Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata Ambarrukmo.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V., & Berry, L. L. (1988). SERVQUAL : A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality. Journal of Retailing, 64(1), 1–29. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Valarie-Zeithaml-2/publication/225083802_SERVQUAL_A_multiple-_Item_Scale_for_measuring_consumer_perceptions_of_service_quality/links/5429a4540cf27e39fa8e6531/SERVQUAL-A-multiple-Item-Scale-for-measuring-consumer-percep

Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (1998). Welcome to the experience economy. Harvard Business Review, 76(4), 97–105.

Prahalad, C. K., & Ramaswamy, V. (2004). Co-creation experiences: The next practice in value creation. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(3), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.20015

Prasetyanto, N. W., Setiawan, I., Djuwendah, E., & Suhartini. (2025). Emerging issues in the development of agritourism in Indonesia: A bibliometric analysis. SEPA: Jurnal Sosial Ekonomi Pertanian Dan Agribisnis, 22(2), 207–220.

Wu, T.-C. (Emily), Chen, C.-P., Hsu, A.-Y., & Wall, G. (2024). Farm diversification through agritourism: Innovation synergies. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 27(3), 509–525.