Do destination Facebook pages increase fan’s visit intention? A longitudinal study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore how following a destination’s Facebook page changes fans’ visit intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study conducted two waves of data collection before and after following a Facebook page over a three-month period and collected 297 and 172 usable responses. The theory of planned behavior was adopted to build the evolution model. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model was used in testing the proposed evolution model and exploring the changes over time.

Findings

Fans’ visit intentions significantly improved after following a Facebook page with a strengthened impact of subjective norm on visit intention. The effect of attitude on visit intention showed significant decrease after following the Facebook page, making attitude less important in travelers’ decision-making processes.

Practical implications

This study proves that destinations’ Facebook pages are effective in terms of improving fans’ visit intentions. Therefore, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) should focus on increasing the number of their Facebook fans and pay most attention to the social influence of Facebook pages.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first attempts to prove the effectiveness of Facebook marketing using a longitudinal approach. The study also contributes to the literature of utilizing PLS-SEM in hospitality and tourism research through applying the procedure of analyzing longitudinal data.

研究目的

本论文旨在探索旅游目的地Facebook官网对吸引粉丝旅游的影响力。

研究设计/方法/途径

样本数据搜集历时三个月, 分别在游客粉丝一个旅游目的地Facebook官网前和三个月后进行问卷收集。样本数量分别为297份（粉丝前）和172份（粉丝后）。计划行为理论（TPB）作为本论文的理论基础以建立研究模型。PLS-SEM为数据分析方法来测试假设模型和探索因时间而产生的变化。

研究结果

游客的旅游意向明显加强了, 在粉丝旅游目的地Facebook之后, 显示为增强的主观规范对旅游意向的影响。游客态度对旅游意向的影响在粉丝Facebook官网后明显降低, 使得游客的态度对旅游决策的作用重要性降低。

研究实践意义

本论文结果显示旅游目的地Facebook官网对增加粉丝游客有效用。因此, DMO应该重视吸引更多Facebook粉丝, 以及尤其重视Facebook中的社会影响。

研究原创性/价值

本论文是极少数文章通过纵向研究方法来证明Facebook营销的效用性的研究。本论文还对酒店旅游研究文献采用PLS-SEM分析方法进行纵向研究有着理论贡献。

关键词 – 旅游目的地facebook官网, 纵向, 计划行为理论（TPB）, 旅游倾向。

纸张类型 – 文献综述

Citation

Leung, X.Y. (2019), "Do destination Facebook pages increase fan’s visit intention? A longitudinal study", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 205-218. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-06-2018-0041