Mitigating uncertainty in travel agency selection in Jordan: A signaling theory approach

Uncertainty plays a critical role in tourism purchase decisions, particularly in developing markets. This study investigates how Jordanian tourists reduce uncertainty when buying package tours by applying signaling theory. A questionnaire was distributed to 450 tourists with prior travel agency experience, yielding 376 valid responses analyzed using PLS-SEM and IPMA. Results show that information quality, popularity, positive comments, and reputation significantly reduce uncertainty about travel agencies, while return policy has no significant effect. Moreover, uncertainty negatively influences purchase decisions. IPMA findings highlight that reputation is the most important factor in reducing uncertainty, followed by popularity and positive comments. Although return policy scores highest in performance, it has the least impact on uncertainty. This study contributes to tourism literature by identifying specific customer-seller signals that influence perceived uncertainty and by clarifying the link between uncertainty reduction and purchase behavior in the context of travel agencies in developing countries.