There’s a troll on the information bridge! An exploratory study of deviant online behaviour impacts on tourism cosmopolitanism

Existing literature has portrayed tourism as a conduit for learning and transformation, with a view that such mobilities elucidate tourism cosmopolitanism. While such propositions are insofar useful in characterising global dispositions, very little has been done to investigate how the virtual space has helped to develop or curtail effects of tourism cosmopolitanism. The virtual space has transformed tourism engagement and consumption patterns, though few studies have paid attention to deviant online behaviour and its corresponding effects on cosmopolitanism. Drawing from outcomes of trolling instances within forums, this paper argues that deviant online behaviour is of consequence as an antecedent in determining one’s disposition to destinations, challenging the decision type and raising serious concerns to self-image and virtual representations. These attacks on any individual necessitate a cautious approach for scholars and practitioners when engaging with the electronic realm as a different, yet instrumental facet in characterising tourism cosmopolitanism