Uses and Gratifications Motivations and Their Effects on Attitude and e-Tourist Satisfaction: A Multilevel Approach

Jang-Won Moon and Yuting An
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Jang-Won Moon: School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of South Florida, Sarasota, FL 34243, USA
Yuting An: Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

Tourism and Hospitality, 2022, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: This study employed the Uses and Gratifications Theory to explore the motivations for utilizing a smartphone during trips and satisfactions with travel experience. This study adopted multilevel SEM to explore how U&G motivations affect e-tourist satisfaction when attitude toward smartphone use by tourists serves as a mediator. To this end, data collected from tourists travelling in the US were analyzed using a multilevel approach. The findings are: (1) U&G motivations (social interaction, entertainment, information, and convenience) are determined, (2) valid and reliable scales for all constructs are developed, (3) U&G motivations have a significant effect on tourists’ attitude toward smartphone use, which, in turn, significantly affects e-tourist satisfaction (hedonic, utilitarian, and overall) at the individual level. The results from this study provide practical and theoretical implications for e-tourism communication and tourism marketing.

Keywords: uses and gratifications theory; smartphones; e-tourist satisfaction; mediation; multilevel SEM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z3 Z30 Z31 Z32 Z33 Z38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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