Social Networking Service as a Marketing Technology Tool and Sustainable Business in the Lodging Industry: Investigating the Difference across Older and Younger Age Groups among Tourists

Heesup Han, Linda-Heejung Lho, Heekyoung Jung, Antonio Ariza-Montes and Luis Araya-Castillo
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Heesup Han: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea
Linda-Heejung Lho: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Korea
Heekyoung Jung: Department of Aviation Service Management, Silla University, Busan 46958, Korea
Antonio Ariza-Montes: Social Matters Research Group, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
Luis Araya-Castillo: Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago de Chile 7591538, Chile

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Despite the importance of social networking services (SNSs), their engagement and their role as a critical marketing technology tool in explaining travellers’ approach behaviours are not well known. The present study investigated the influence of SNS engagement on traveller loyalty generation for a chain hotel brand and the health of this business by considering the roles of brand attitude, awareness, trust, and attachment and the impact of age. Fostering customers’ SNS engagement in the hospitality industry will be a vital constituent of hotels’ sustainable business. A quantitative process was used to meet the research objectives. The proposed research framework encompassing these variables was successfully developed. The framework’s efficiency in predicting brand loyalty was also demonstrated. Our results showed that SNS engagement considerably enhances loyalty and other study constructs. Attachment had a salient role in boosting loyalty. In addition, age had a moderating influence. The study constructs maximized the influence of SNS engagement on loyalty as mediators. Overall, our results considerably increase our understanding regarding the role of SNS engagement in the formation of traveller loyalty to chain hotel brands and the sustainability of such businesses.

Keywords: SNS engagement; senior traveller group; young traveller group; contemporary issue; brand loyalty; chain hotel; healthy business (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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