Understanding how social media information intensity drives choices in tourism destinations: an exploratory study

Maouahib Zerouati () and Asma Boukhaoua ()
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Maouahib Zerouati: Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Setif, Algeria
Asma Boukhaoua: Setif 1 University-Ferhat ABBAS, Setif, Algeria

CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul, 2025, vol. 31, issue 1

Abstract: Social media platforms have fundamentally changed the way tourists discover, evaluate and select destinations by amplifying electronic word of mouth. This study examines the role of information intensity, a critical dimension of electronic word of mouth, in influencing the successive decision stages of awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and destination choice. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to collect survey data from100 active social media users from Algeria who had recently planned or selected a travel destination. The results show that information intensity has a significant effect on awareness and directly influences destination choice, with intermediate constructs such as interest, evaluation and trial playing an important mediating role. These results underline the importance of high quality, engaging content in increasing awareness and acceptance of destinations.

Keywords: information intensity; tourism destination choice; social media; structural equation modelling (SEM) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L83 M31 Z33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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