Travel Social Media Involvement: A Proposed Measure

Abstract

This study proposes a measure to determine traveller’s level of involvement with travel social media websites. Social media involvement is defined as a person’s level of interest, emotional attachment or arousal with social media. This measure is important because understanding travellers’ level of involvement with social media is paramount, enabling social media marketers to personalize online marketing strategies and predict behaviours (e.g. online travel purchases). Therefore, this research contributes to the development of literature on travel related social media by providing an instrument to measure travellers’ involvement with travel related social media. A confirmatory factor analysis conducted with a sample of 1,732 respondents demonstrates that social media involvement can be conceptualized as a formative multidimensional construct, formed by interest in social media, social media consumption, social media creation and perceived playfulness with the use of social media (all for travel related purposes).