Sustainable Destination Marketing Ecosystem through Smartphone-Based Social Media: The Consumers’ Acceptance Perspective

Farzana Sharmin, Mohammad Tipu Sultan, Daniel Badulescu, Alina Badulescu, Afrodita Borma and Benqian Li
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Farzana Sharmin: School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai 200240, China
Mohammad Tipu Sultan: School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai 200240, China
Afrodita Borma: Department of Economics and Business, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Benqian Li: School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai 200240, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-24

Abstract: The growth of technological revolutions and the subsequent acceptance of smart devices has increased the influence of sustainable marketing activities in the tourism industry. Due to the explosion of mobile technologies (e.g., smartphones, tablets) and social media adoption, consumers have been able to use these technologies at any time for destination marketing. However, understanding consumers’ sustainable marketing experiences from a destination perspective is a complex issue. At the moment, very few studies have focused on the effectiveness of smartphone-based social media in destination marketing. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to explore how consumers interpret and utilize smartphone-based social media for sustainable destination marketing. This study proposes an integrated framework that consists of the mobile technology acceptance model (MTAM) and the social media-based interaction, trendiness, and electronic-word-of-mouth (e-WoM). A questionnaire survey was used to collect data ( n = 365), and valid data were analyzed by the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The findings revealed that interaction, trendiness, and e-WoM indirectly affected satisfaction through mobile usefulness and mobile ease of use. At the same time, mobile usefulness and mobile ease of use directly affected satisfaction, which then significantly influenced the intention to utilize those factors towards sustainable destination marketing. This study highlights the technological affordances and the satisfaction of smartphone-based social media in sustainable marketing. Furthermore, the results can be used in the resource allocation process to ensure the success of the vision and mission of sustainable destination marketing efforts.

Keywords: mobile technology acceptance model; satisfaction; social media marketing activities; smartphone; sustainable destination marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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