Exploring the impact of social media content on travel envy and intention to visit destination: moderating role of narcissist admiration and rivalry

Abstract

ABSTRACT Social networking sites significantly influence the behavioral intentions of travelers. Considering this as an avenue of future research, the current study explores how social media elements induce travel envy using multi-study approaches. Study 1 (N = 338) is an experimental study aimed at investigating the impact of post type (emotional vs. rational) and post content (luxury vs. non-luxury) on travel envy and intention to visit a destination (IVTD). Study 2 (N = 190) is a survey-based study that explores the moderating role of narcissism between travel envy and IVTD by considering both post content and type. Study 3 (N = 289) tests the composite model using survey-based and experimental-based research designs. The findings reveal the robust impact of post type and content in triggering travel envy and intentions amongst recipients of particular social media posts. The emotional-luxury post category has a relatively stronger influence on travel envy and travel intentions than the rational-non-luxury post type. Narcissism is found to play a moderating role in the relationship between travel envy and IVTD.