A REVIEW ON THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN TRAVEL DECISION OF YOUTH TRAVELERS

Abstract

This paper will highlight the review of previously reported data by numerous authors. Nowadays, widespread social media is used more and more especially in tourism. Recent trends in technology have observed the emergence of social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. These websites encourage users to share information on what they are doing, upload pictures of what they have been up to, and post blog entries in order to share their interests and activities with other users. From the industry perspective, more and more hotels or tourist destinations are using these social networking sites as communication tools with their guests. It is evident that people are depending on their peers’ reviews through these social networking sites before purchasing products and services. As a result, social networking sites are growing both in popularity and importance for consumers as well as corporate. Previous research regarding the use of social media among youth travellers has mainly focused on its impact on travellers’ travel planning process and there is consensus that travel decisions are highly influenced by social media. Considering that an answer to the research question of “will social media influence the travel decision of the youth travellers”, the aim of this study is to fill this research gap and to examine the influence of social media on youth travellers’ decision making. A proposed conceptual framework is developed in order to understand the influence of social media on travel decision making among youth travellers. The findings of this study are important to tourism online marketers in order to have a better understanding on youth travellers in the use of social media so that they can adapt online marketing strategies for this segment.