Blurring the borders between B2B and B2C: a model of antecedents behind usage of social media for travel planning

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to call for a scrutiny of the dualist approach to business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) marketing in industries driven by consumer-generated content. It posits that individual consumer-centric factors are influential for B2B marketing as well in sectors such as the travel industry and investigates the determinants of tourists’ intention to use social media websites for travel planning. Design/methodology/approach Integrating constructs from IS and marketing literature, the paper proposes information quality and perceived enjoyment as antecedents of perceived usefulness, attitude and intention to use. The research model is tested using data from social media users with experience in travel planning. Findings Results show that perceived usefulness and information quality are stronger predictors of attitude and behavioral intention than perceived enjoyment. Enjoyment was not found to be strongly influential. Relevancy and reliability of information and its usefulness concerning travel-planning needs were found more influential. Research limitations/implications Data were collected from social media users, raising possible issues of representativeness. Practical implications The paper offers clarity regarding antecedents of downstream user behavior which can be of significant value. Demarcations in B2B and B2C perspectives blur in the context of social media, enabling more effective integration. Originality/value The paper brings in and validates the roles of information quality and enjoyment as influencers of behavior. Identifying the travel industry as a sector having greater likelihood of B2BC convergence, the paper extends IS adoption research to user-interactive sites in the travel-planning context, which can benefit the consumer as well as the supply side.

The role of social media advertising in hospitality, tourism and travel: a literature review and research agenda

“…The rest of the 51 (26.6%) articles carried a total of 64 theoretical themes, listed in Table 2. The technology acceptance model was used to understand consumers’ intention to use social media (Hua et al , 2017; Mariani et al , 2019; Nath et al , 2019). The elaboration likelihood model was used to investigate factors that may lead to consumers’ confusion about online tourism information (Lu and Gursoy, 2015), influences of social presence (Chung et al , 2015) and information quality and source credibility (Dedeoglu, 2019) related to the use of UGC.…”

Market amplification or transformation? The role of industry analysts in spreading WOM in B2B

“…On the other hand, other researchers suggest that B2B and B2C WOM may be more similar than imagined (e.g. Nath et al, 2019). Thus, in the following, we review studies on WOM motivations in both B2C and B2B with the aim of shedding light on the motives of WOM in B2B.…”

“…Specifically, the motives to engage in WOM may not be driven by helping others make the best decisions (Dichter, 1966;Rimé, 2009) or creating relationships with followers (Farivar et al, 2021), but could be driven by other factors, such as relationships with vendors, personal status and other individual biases. On the other hand, other researchers suggest that B2B and B2C WOM may be more similar than imagined (Nath et al, 2019). Thus, in the following, we review studies on WOM motivations in both B2C and B2B with the aim of shedding light on the motives of WOM in B2B.…”

Why do social media users follow tourism-related posts? Roles of bloggers and posts in trip planning

“…TRPs) is an important predictor of intention regarding the object (i.e. following TRPs when trip planning) (Ayeh et al, 2013;Mendes-Filho et al, 2018;Nath et al, 2019;Sakshi et al, 2020). Further, when viewers have favorable attitudes towards the posts, they are more likely to follow the advice and the behaviors recommended by the posts (Ki and Kim, 2019;Belanche et al, 2021).…”