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Article
Publication date: 25 July 2023

Zhiqi Lin and S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh

Combining technology acceptance model and the theory of planned behavior, this study aims to analyze influencing factors on intention of sharing heritage tourism experience in…

Abstract

Purpose

Combining technology acceptance model and the theory of planned behavior, this study aims to analyze influencing factors on intention of sharing heritage tourism experience in social media from technological, psychological and experience perspectives. The moderating effects of age and gender are also tested.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies a quantitative method using online questionnaires. A total number of 323 questionnaires are collected. The data are analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling to assess measurement and structural models and multi-group analysis to compare differences among age and gender groups.

Findings

The results of this study indicate that subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and tourism experience significantly and positively influence the intention of sharing heritage tourism experience in social media, while the effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and attitude are non-significant. Results reveal the differences in antecedents of sharing heritage tourism experience in social media between males and females and between younger and older tourists.

Originality/value

Developing a model integrating technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior, this paper analyzes the intention of sharing heritage tourism experience in social media through technological, psychological and tourism experience perspectives. Besides, heterogeneous comparisons between younger and older tourists and between males and females offer significant academic and practical insights.

研究目的

本研究结合技术接受模型(TAM)和计划行为理论(TPB), 旨在从技术、心理和体验的角度分析在社交媒体上分享文化遗产旅游体验意愿的影响因素, 同时还测试了年龄和性别的调节效应。

研究方法

本研究采用定量方法, 使用在线问卷进行调查。共收集到323份问卷。使用PLS-SEM来评估测量和结构模型, 使用多组分析(MGA)来比较不同年龄和性别组之间的差异。

研究发现

结果表明, 主观规范、感知行为控制和旅游体验对在社交媒体上分享文化遗产旅游体验的意愿有显著的正向影响, 而感知有用性、感知易用性和态度的影响是不显著的。结果揭示了男性和女性以及年轻游客和老年游客之间在社交媒体上分享文化遗产旅游体验前因的差异。

研究创新/价值

本文开发了一个整合了TAM和TPB的模型, 通过技术、心理和旅游体验的视角分析了在社交媒体上分享文化遗产旅游体验的意愿。此外, 对年轻游客和老年游客以及男性和女性之间的异质比较提供了重要的学术和实践见解。

Article
Publication date: 25 January 2023

Farhad Nazir

The purpose of this study is to discern the underlying dimensions of destination branding and social media in the socio-geographical context of Pakistan. The study while selecting…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to discern the underlying dimensions of destination branding and social media in the socio-geographical context of Pakistan. The study while selecting an event – Pakistan Tourism Summit 2019 – has explored the narratives of foreign social media influencers (SMIs). These narratives and content of tourism website of Pakistan have been comparatively analyzed to disentangle the voluntary and involuntary branding eventualities.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative research strategy has been adopted. Using the interface of NVivo 12, thematic analysis on the narratives of foreign influencers and content of tourism website has been performed. Eventually, influencer’s videos and website’s content have been transcribed and integrated into inductive themes.

Findings

The findings implies that multiple halt points exist in tourism branding of Pakistan. Stigmatized image as a dangerous place for visitation, superficial/exaggerated branding by the influencers, colonial mindset to marginalize the domestic influencers, domestic branding through foreign influencers and veiled tourism potential are the various dimensions emerged during analysis phase.

Research limitations/implications

Given the limitations of the qualitative research approach, the current study lacks statistical avenues of quantitative or mix-method studies. Selection of a single event and website further limits this study and calls for the necessity of future studies having wider units of data collection and other portals of social media.

Practical implications

For policy makers, academia and supply sector, this study offers touchpoints to be emphasized in the strategic, legal and theoretical fronts of destination branding.

Originality/value

Despite the hegemony of SMIs in destination branding, there is scarcity of research on the paybacks of such branding campaigns. This endeavor in response to this call, accentuated the destination branding via foreign social media activists regarding the tourism potential of Pakistan. Findings provides novel insights and branding ethos deemed necessary to be considered in destination branding strategies/campaigns.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 March 2021

Shruti Gulati

While researchers have studied the impact of social media on tourist behaviour Milano et al. (2011) and Hays et al. (2013), very few studies have explored the impact of social…

8913

Abstract

Purpose

While researchers have studied the impact of social media on tourist behaviour Milano et al. (2011) and Hays et al. (2013), very few studies have explored the impact of social media on sustainable tourism, and thus, it can be said to be in its “infancy” (Han et al., 2017). There exists a “knowledge gap” not just with tourists but also with researchers, as the issue on sustainable tourism consumption is “rarely investigated directly in tourism researches” or consumer behaviour studies, and there is often discrepancy in literature on the issue (Cohen et al., 2014; Bray et al., 2011). While the potential for social media in promoting sustainable tourism is known considering the use of it for socialisation and knowledge sharing, empirical researches to make in depth enquiry on the same is “rare” (Ali and Frew, 2010; Sarkar et al., 2014). Also, the differences between markets for sustainable tourism amongst different markets needs to explored further (Weber, 2019). The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by proposing a conceptual framework and empirically testing how social media can be used to generate and promote sustainable tourism demand among through evidences from Indian tourists. RQ1: what are the key drivers to use social media by sustainable tourists? RQ2: can social media promotions help sustainable demand generation through spreading awareness and connecting fellow sustainable tourists?

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 350 Indian tourists were reached through Google forms distributed through various channels, amongst which 265 responded with a response rate of 75.7%. The data were coded and checked for any outliers and missing values. To avoid any biases, incomplete forms were not counted and after data cleaning, 250 respondents were found to be appropriate with all the responses. Analysis of demographic and travel profile was done through SPSS 22 to check variances in the groups, frequencies and chi square values were calculated. Since this is an exploratory study, the aim was more on prediction rather than model confirmation, thus the technique used and found to be appropriate was partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

Variances of social media were used in the demographic groups and found that there was no significant difference found as per age and education. Even variation of travel habits was found to be not significant with social media use. It can be seen that social media promotion activities indeed create awareness amongst people about sustainability; creating awareness about sustainability indeed leads to connecting green tourists together. On the other hand, social media promotional activities may not necessarily connect potential green tourists together; awareness positively impacts the generation of sustainable demand is also supported. It can be seen that merely connecting potential green tourists does not necessarily create demand. Social media promotion activities are indeed instrumental in creating a sustainable demand amongst tourist.

Research limitations/implications

This study takes into account the informational and environmental knowledge aspect of sustainable behaviour adoption by green tourists (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007; Miller, 2003; Chan et al., 2014). This study draws implications based on the behaviour of Indian tourists and thus, the generalisation to other countries may not be as accurate as Indians differ culturally from the world at large. Even though the study involves different age groups, the mean age is of younger Indian tourists, which is also often considered as the most active users of social media and thus likely to be impacted more. Also, it is believed that these younger green consumers who are already inclined towards sustainability tend to seek more information on ethical issues (Finney, 2014). The sample size of the study is very small (n = 250) and was only checked for variation amongst gender and profession; other aspects such as income and employment (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007; Miller, 2003) have been kept out of the study and thus not included as a part of demographics. More demographic characteristics can be taken into account to study if they play a mediating role in generating sustainable demand as a part of the analysis of this conceptual framework proposed.

Practical implications

Internet allows users to obtain information about products and brands to its users through various social media such as blogs, forums, wikis content sharing, etc. (Hennig-Thurau and Walsh, 2003; Reilly and Weirup, 2010). Strategies can thus be formulated to target sustainable tourists with sustainable destinations and amenities, so as to attract those tourists who appreciate and commit to the cause of sustainability (López-Sánchez and Pulido-Fernández, 2016). Using social media as a promotion tool can help in educating customers (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010) on the various sustainable tourism services they intend to offer, as the results supports the use of social media promotion for generating sustainable demand amongst the tourists. Also, the sustainable tourism providers can make use of promotional activities focussing on building online pro environmental tourist-based communities using the user generated contents which can positively lead to adoption of collective social behaviour and sustainable practices (Han et al., 2017). Specifically, the use of short interactive messages can be used for social media promotions, so as to increase “organisation prominence” amongst the green target groups online (Strähle and Gräff, 2017). While it was noted that different markets react differently to the idea of sustainability, and thus, different markets need to be explored deeper (Weber, 2019); this study attempts to provide a perspective of Indian tourists which not just adds to the literature on Indian tourist behaviour but also provides a viewpoint of the Asian tourists. It also enriches the existing literature on the use of AIDA model for services and tourism specifically which as a theoretical base is unexplored.

Originality/value

The study adds to the rising interest in understanding the behavioural changes in tourists (Hall, 2016) and provides insights on “the versatility of the topic of relationship between sustainable tourism and marketing” (Font and McCabe, 2017). While ethical consumption is essential to preserve resources, the study of this area of consumer behaviour is “under examined”, as majority studies focus on products, very few studies elucidate on encouraging it through social marketing (Newholm and Shaw, 2007). Thus, this study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by proposing a framework for generating sustainable demand amongst tourists so that they are inclined socially and sustainably both through the use of social media. It is often noted that tourists are unwilling to change their travel behaviour as a result of lack of awareness or due to hesitance of sacrificing (Juvan and Dolnicar, 2014; Miller et al., 2010). This study provides empirical evidence that supports the awareness of sustainability as a means of generating sustainable demand amongst tourists. Knowledge regarding tourism demand helps in the further development of tourism products and its marketing initiatives (Weber, 2019). Thus, it allows tourism players to understand that Indian tourists are open to sustainable tourist practices if enough information is provided to them.

Details

International Hospitality Review, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-8142

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 February 2020

Hochan Jang and Minkyung Park

The purpose of this study is to document how a traditional residential neighborhood, Ihwa village in Seoul, South Korea, is transformed into a tourist attraction and demonstrate…

1844

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to document how a traditional residential neighborhood, Ihwa village in Seoul, South Korea, is transformed into a tourist attraction and demonstrate the complexity of the overtourism phenomenon and the multifaceted conflicts among stakeholders that emerged in the course of urban transformation. Particularly, the study explores how tourism growth, urban transformation and overtourism are intertwined with each other and how the role of social media and media contributed to tourism growth and the transformation of an urban neighborhood.

Design/methodology/approach

The study conducted text analytics (a big data analysis) using personal blogs and news articles. Our data for text analytics was defined to retrieve all news articles and blogs existent in the NAVER portal, the largest Korean portal and search engine, for the period between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2018. The data was collected using a web crawling program, TEXTOM version 3.0.

Findings

Text analysis of blog entries and news articles suggests that each medium has its unique role and domain to play. While the news media contributed to the initial surge of interest in Ihwa village, genuine growth of tourism in Ihwa village seems to be attributed to social media. Texts that appeared in blogs strongly indicated that people used their blogs to share their trip experiences, which can be subsequently assumed that blogs had an influential role in promoting a small place like Ihwa mural village, while news articles tended to highlight negative or unusual events occurred in Ihwa village. The study also addressed the multifaceted nature of the conflicts that were inherent in the issue of urban regeneration and how those conflicts were developed and manifested in the process of touristification and overtourism in Ihwa village. As touristification can manifest in various forms in different places, the case of Ihwa village demonstrates a unique development of touristification; private tourism companies or tourism agencies did not initiate or intend to cause tourism gentrification. Rather, touristification is a byproduct of urban revitalization through public art and is a result of interplay between the local government’s interest, social media and new tourist demand.

Originality/value

Text analytics using big data have rarely been attempted to understand the role of social media in relation to tourism growth and touristification of an urban tourism place. This study advances the literature by applying big data analysis to user-generated content in blogs. The study also contributes to the deeper understanding of a different developmental pattern of touristification in an urban tourism place as well as the complexity of the overtourism phenomenon and the multifaceted conflicts among stakeholders.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 January 2022

Trinh Ngo T.T., Phuong Bui L.A., Dung Pham T.H., Tram Mai N. and Luan Bui K.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a massive impact on people’s lives, the wealth of nations, tourism cities, economic and social media. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has a massive impact on people’s lives, the wealth of nations, tourism cities, economic and social media. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to challenges and innovations to deal with multiple direct and indirect impacts. This research aims to explore the development of social media research in the tourism city context to highlight emerging research themes, methodological approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

This study searched and filtered on the Scopus Web and Web of Science to collect databases and applied hybrid methods. The VOSviewer algorithm was used in the paper to generate maps from bibliographic and text data. Furthermore, a polynomial trend line was used to depict the data fluctuations of papers in the relationship between documents and years. Besides, other mathematical and statistical tools to measure the inter-relationships and impacts of social media publications within the tourism city research area, identify valuable insights and determine a framework for social media research trends.

Findings

The study outcomes expressed the development in social media research trends from 2005 to 2021 in the tourism city context of topics (social media, social networking (online)), methodology (sentiment analysis), publication outputs with most extensive collaborations and some other contents to form a framework of social media research trends in tourism cities.

Research limitations/implications

Research data is mainly from reviews of articles that may not account for all trends in reality.

Practical implications

This research is original that will apply to future social media researchers and institutions.

Social implications

Policy makers could base on the research trends to examine their future tourism development orientation.

Originality/value

This research assists social media scholars in understanding trends and themes in tourism city contexts that they could apply in their business area. Moreover, there is a desire to comprehend an overview of the related literature of social media science in tourism city contexts. The outcomes showed the limitations of lacking journals and volume of social media research. The results contribute to meaningful insights by having a more holistic understanding of social media through aggregated data sources.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2020

Khaldoon Nusair

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the current state of social media literature by examining co-word network analysis and thematic keyword…

2492

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the current state of social media literature by examining co-word network analysis and thematic keyword analysis of both scholars and hospitality and tourism journals in three sub-periods (2002-2006, 2007-2012 and 2013-2018).

Design/methodology/approach

This research used a bibliometric analysis of social media literature in the field of hospitality and tourism by synthesizing the literature of a large sample of 601 studies over an extended time period (2002-2018).

Findings

The jump in the number of examined contexts, platforms, methodological approaches and research implications during 2007-2012 has marked the start of social media as a new phenomenon in hospitality and tourism research. Interestingly, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management was a leading contributor to social media research between 2017 and 2018. The period 2013-2018 has witnessed newly emerging trends such as “big data,” “e-tourism,” “green experience” and “smart tourism.” This study’s analysis indicated that few keywords in social media appeared in the maturity stage. New platforms such as “Expedia,” “Foursquare,” “Flickr,” “Pinterest,” “Couchsurfing” and “Twitter” appeared between 2013 and 2018.

Originality/value

The scope of past research on the evolution of social media was limited to either a few of the most popular cited journals and/or analysis within a narrow time span. In contrast, the present study aims to uncover the rapid progress in social media research between 2002 and 2018, addressing growth in breadth and depth of thematic areas. Finally, this paper concluded with the proposal of knowledge-based life cycle framework that identifies key themes related to social media research. This framework provided insights into what has been addressed in previous literature (maturity and decline stages) and reported the topics that have been under-researched (introduction and growth stages).

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2019

Khaldoon Nusair, Irfan Butt and S.R. Nikhashemi

While the importance of social media will continue to grow, the purpose of this study is to provide a retrospective systematic literature review of the social media research…

3640

Abstract

Purpose

While the importance of social media will continue to grow, the purpose of this study is to provide a retrospective systematic literature review of the social media research published in major hospitality and tourism journals over a specific time period.

Design/methodology/approach

The study conducted a bibliometric analysis to review the literature of 439 social media articles published in 51 hospitality and tourism journals over a 15-year time span (2002-2016).

Findings

Ulrike Gretzel authored the highest fractional citations. The results indicated that social media-related research was mostly published in top-tier journals. The International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management was amongst the four leading journals in terms of the percentage of published social media articles. While inter-country social media research collaborations were relatively modest, interestingly, inter-country collaborations have been steadily increasing in the past five years. Another finding indicated that social media research in hospitality and tourism journals has been predominantly quantitative. The results revealed six new areas within the consumer behaviour research theme, namely, eWOM, service recovery, customer satisfaction, brand/destination image and service quality. Finally, it is important to note that four new trends in social media research appeared between 2011 and 2016, namely, big data, netnography, Travel 2.0 and Web 2.0.

Research limitations/implications

While this study made significant contributions to the social media literature, some limitations do exist. For example, the current research excluded publications from major conferences, books, book chapters and dissertations. Additionally, it is not within the scope of this paper to take into account issues related to self-citations.

Practical implications

The results obtained from analysis contribute to a comprehensive understanding of social media research progress in hospitality and tourism. For example, evaluating the performance of individual scholars helps educational institutions to compete in the global university ranking system. Additionally, to compete for funding opportunities on the topic of social media, institutions can use citation counts to demonstrate their competitiveness. Furthermore, due to the expected future growth in the number of social media platforms, practitioners need to understand motivating factors and tourists’ needs in different countries, target market segments, age groups and cultures to create highly engaging communities around their brands.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the sample of this study synthesized the largest selection of social media articles published in hospitality and tourism journals. This is the first study to apply the fractional score at the author level, the adjusted appearance score at the university level and the average citation score at the journal and inter-country levels in the analysis. In addition, prevalent research orientations and research trends in social media made significant contributions to existing literature.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2023

Zhongyuan Zhou, Ting (Tina) Li, Chang Liu, Yang Zhou, Ping Li and Si Wen

More people share their tourism experiences on social media today than in the past, and as a result, more people follow these posts in their trip planning. However, studies into…

Abstract

Purpose

More people share their tourism experiences on social media today than in the past, and as a result, more people follow these posts in their trip planning. However, studies into tourists' intention to follow such posts are scarce. Therefore, this study investigates the antecedents influencing social media users' intentions to follow tourism-related posts (TRPs) when planning their trips.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires were collected from 402 social media users who had followed TRPs for their trip planning. Data were then analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural networks.

Findings

The authors found that blogger–user fit and users' involvement with TRPs influenced behavior components (attitudes toward TRPs and intention to follow TRPs) via assessment components (bloggers' credibility and content quality), and the authors developed a framework to explain this relationship.

Originality/value

The findings advance prior studies by investigating (1) the antecedents of intention to follow TRPs when trip planning, (2) the two main social media elements – bloggers and posts – to understanding the role of social media on travel behavior and (3) involvement with TRPs and their impacts on travel behavior. This study contributes to the research on social media and tourism marketing and proposes practical indications for bloggers, social media platforms and destination marketing organizations.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 123 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2022

Eliza Vlasich, Diane Lee and Catherine Archer

This study utilises a case study approach to explore how local tourism providers in the Shire of Collie, Western Australia (Collie), a coal-mining region, use social media to…

Abstract

Purpose

This study utilises a case study approach to explore how local tourism providers in the Shire of Collie, Western Australia (Collie), a coal-mining region, use social media to promote the providers' businesses and the destination.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews with 11 local, small business tourism providers were conducted. These interviews explored the use of social media from local tourism providers' perspectives.

Findings

The findings show that local tourism providers in Collie recognise the benefits of using social media for promotion, although there are some barriers when using social media. Barriers included insufficient time, difficulty in measuring the impact of social media and a lack of knowledge on how to use social media effectively. Participant benefits included reaching a wider audience and a “younger” demographic.

Research limitations/implications

As a small regional destination case study, a limited number of tourism businesses were included in the study. Therefore, this study utilised Dickman's 5 A's of a successful tourism destination to encapsulate a robust representation of tourism businesses.  

Social implications

This study details the experiences of local tourism providers in a rural destination, providing insight into using social media to market a rural tourist destination. The study provides a methodology for application to other rural tourist destinations, particularly emerging tourism destinations, in order to understand how local tourism providers use social media.

Originality/value

This study provides insights on local tourism providers' perspectives by detailing their experiences in a town and region transforming their tourism offering. The introduction of small-scale renewable energy sees mining communities' economic landscape changing. Further, opportunities for employment within the coal mining sector are declining and there is a need to develop new industry to support the economy. Tourism is an integral part of this transition in Collie. This study offers insights into how local tourism providers are adapting and utilising social media to promote the town's newly established tourism offerings.

Details

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4217

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2022

Shameek Mukhopadhyay, Tinu Jain, Sachin Modgil and Rohit Kr Singh

The significance of social media in our lives is manifold. The tourism sector closely interacts with existing and potential tourists through social media, and therefore, social…

Abstract

Purpose

The significance of social media in our lives is manifold. The tourism sector closely interacts with existing and potential tourists through social media, and therefore, social media analytics (SMA) play a critical role in the uplift of the sector. Hence, this review focus on the role of SMA in tourism as discussed in different studies over a period of time. The purpose of this paper to present the state of the art on social media analytics in tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

The review focuses on identifying different SMA techniques to explore the trends and approaches adopted in the tourism sector. The review is based on 83 papers and discuss the studies related to different social media platforms, the travelers' reactions to a particular place and how the tourism experience is enriched by the way of SMA.

Findings

Findings indicate different sentiments associated with tourism and provides a review of tourists’ use of social media for choosing a travel destination. The various analytical approaches, areas such as social network analysis, content analysis, sentiment analysis and trend analysis were found most prevalent. The theoretical and practical implications of SMA are discussed. The paper made an effort to bridge the gap between different studies in the field of tourism and SMA.

Originality/value

SMA facilitate both tourists and tourism companies to understand the trends, sentiments and desires of tourists. The use of SMA offers value to companies for designing quick and adequate services to tourists.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

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