The Role of Social Media on Tourists’ Behavior: An Empirical Analysis of Millennials from the Czech Republic

Mohsin Javed, Zuzana Tučková and Abdul Bashiru Jibril
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Mohsin Javed: Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management and Economics, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Mostni 5139, 76001 Zlin, Czech Republic
Zuzana Tučková: Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management and Economics, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Mostni 5139, 76001 Zlin, Czech Republic
Abdul Bashiru Jibril: Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Management and Economics, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Mostni 5139, 76001 Zlin, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Due to the emergence of Web 2.0 and consequently the increased use of social media, this study aims to explore the role of social media in changing the behavior of tourists and the choice of a destination. Despite the massive popularity of social media, the studies with a comprehensive set of driving constructs along with indicators of social media regarding the changing behavior of tourists are lacking in the literature. Therefore, framed by the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the present study fulfills this research gap by developing a set of driving constructs and carrying out an empirical analysis by collecting data from millennials in the selected universities of the Czech Republic. Through the non-random sampling technique, precisely convenience sampling, 261 valid responses were received, and partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis was performed to achieve the objectives of this study. The results indicate that social media channels have a significant impact on behavioral intention and the actual behavior of tourists (significant direct and indirect effect). The constructs tourist information search and tourism promotion were partially supported toward predicting the behavior of tourists. Control–variables related to socio-economic characteristics such as gender and educational level also have a significant impact in determining the actual behavior of tourists. Hence, overall, the study concludes with the significant and considerable impact of social media on the behavior of tourists. The contributions of the study and future directions are discussed at the end of the paper.

Keywords: Web 2.0; social media; tourist behavior; millennials; theory of planned behavior (TPB); tourism industry; PLS-SEM; Czech Republic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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