Abstract
Smart tourism technologies (STTs) are technological media that tourists apply in various stages of the tourism decision-making process. The purpose of this study was to explore how the communication elements of social network sites (SNSs), as a part of STTs, enhance tourists’ motivation and usage intention. A structural framework based on communication elements and the uses and gratification theory with regard to SNSs usage was developed and investigated. An online survey was employed for the data collection, and structural equation modeling was used in the hypotheses analysis. The findings indicated that Internet self-efficacy, information quality, and systems quality trigger the information-seeking motive while service quality and source credibility positively determine the relationship maintenance motive. The information-seeking motive, entertainment motive, relationship maintenance motive, and Internet self-efficacy positively influence the intention to use SNSs for trips. New findings were found in terms of the relationship between the motives. The information-seeking motive and relationship maintenance motive influence the entertainment motive. Moreover, the relationship maintenance motive influences the information-seeking motive.
Highlights
As a result of the rapid advancement in communication technologies, many industries including the tourism industry have adopted these technologies
This study was an extension of prior research of the motivations in technology adoption intention by integrating social network sites (SNSs) communication elements with uses and gratification theory (UGT) to find how social networks influence tourists’ motives
This study drew on the relationship between the UGT motives, which fulfilled the knowledge of previous studies
Summary
As a result of the rapid advancement in communication technologies, many industries including the tourism industry have adopted these technologies. Because of the information intensity nature of tourism, there is a high dependence on information and communication technologies (ICTs) [1,2]. Tourists search for information for their trips from the beginning to the end of the travel decision-making process. With massive information usage in the tourism industry, many tourist organizations have adjusted themselves by serving tourists reliance on information for their travel decision-making. Gretzel [4] mentioned that smart tourism is a step in ICT evolution in tourism including creating, exchanging, consuming, and sharing tourism experiences. Instead of distinctive information systems, smart tourism combines a variety of technologies as infrastructure for a real-time connection with information for the tourism decision-making processes [5]
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