Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse factors influencing the propensity to share travel experiences in social media during a trip, across a sample of Millennial and Generation Z consumers in three different countries. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was sent to consumers between 16 and 30 years in Sweden, UK and India. Structural equation modelling and multigroup analysis was conducted to compare results between countries and generations. Findings Young travellers’ need for uniqueness (NFU) and opinion leadership (OL) with regard to travel tends to increase their propensity to share travel experiences in social media during a trip. Reflected appraisal of self is strongly related to NFU and OL and may therefore indirectly influence the propensity to share. Some differences were found between generations and countries. Research limitations/implications Future research could consider comparisons between travellers from younger and older generations. The hypotheses formulated in this study could be tested in other countries. Further adaptions or extensions of existing NFU scales to fit in the travel and tourism context are suggested. Practical implications Millennial and Gen Z consumers will constitute an increasing part of travellers and visitors in the future. Through a better understanding of their behaviour, tourism managers can design strategies to engage them and increase electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Originality/value This study contributes by addressing the lack of research on “self”-related drivers of eWOM in general social media during the trip, and by providing an international perspective through cross-cultural comparisons.
Highlights
The aim of this paper is to analyse factors influencing the propensity to share travel experiences in social media during a trip, across a sample of Millennial and Gen Z consumers in three different countries
As the reflected appraisal of self (RAS) is connected to opinion leadership (OL), these consumers’ concern with how they are perceived in the eyes of others seems to increase their tendencies in trying to influence others’ travel choices
These findings add to the understanding of self-relevant constructs in the context of travel (e.g. Kim et al, 2015)
Summary
The aim of this paper is to analyse factors influencing the propensity to share travel experiences in social media during a trip, across a sample of Millennial and Gen Z consumers in three different countries. We propose that NFU will be influenced by the RAS, and that it is positively related to the propensity to share travel experiences in social media during a trip. In addition to the self-relevant constructs highlighted in the previous sections, we propose that travel experience potentially influences the propensity to share travel experiences (i.e. content) in social media during a trip. The dependent construct, labelled “Propensity to Share” in the research model, was conceptualised as the propensity to share travel experiences in general social media during a vacation trip. This was measured by six items covering different forms of actively sharing content on social media during travel: uploading photos, posting video clips, writing status updates, writing comments, “checking in”, and tagging (Wallström et al, 2015). Considering these results and the theoretical foundation for the constructs, we decided to retain all items according to the tested measurement model
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