Social Media Impact on Tourism Destination Decision: Evidence from International Students in China

Abstract

Technological advancement has led to the adoption and usage of social media among businesses including tourism sector to disseminate information and communicate with customers more effectively. Due to the limitless capabilities that social media provides, it is gradually transforming diverse business ecosystems. This study seeks to assess at the impact of social media on tourism destination decision-making from foreign students in China context. From the background of Uses and Gratification theory, a quantitative research approach was used to achieve the sole of the present study. This study used an online questionnaire tool to obtain response, validated using a Partial Least Square and Structural Equation Modeling and SPSS statistical software to analyze 271 samples of foreign students in China. The findings of the study show that behavioral intentions have a positive and significant effect on tourism destination decision-making, and social media significant direct influence on tourism destination decision making. Furthermore, tourists' satisfaction can enhance tourism destination decisions when mediated by social media usage. The research findings would help tourism service providers to identify and select social media platforms as a marketing strategy for tourism competitiveness.

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