What Drives Facebook Fans to “Like” Hotel Pages: A Comparison of Three Competing Models

Abstract

Social media marketing is gaining importance in the hotel industry. The current study developed and tested three competing antecedent models of social media marketing derived from technology, communication, and social psychology theories. The three models were evaluated using structural equation modeling and compared for overall model fit, path significance, explanatory power, and parsimony. The results revealed that the social psychology model, based on social identity theory and social influence model, provided the best explanation of Facebook fans’ intentions to “like” (join) hotel pages. Three different social influence factors, namely, compliance, internalization, and identification, had different effects on fans’ attitudes toward hotel Facebook pages and behavioral intentions to like hotel Facebook pages. These findings have theoretical implications by demonstrating that classic theories of social psychology are applicable in the social media environment. The findings also have practical implications by providing guidance for effective social media marketing in the hotel industry.