Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate how social networks can become the main tool for achieving fast and detailed information for the choice of tourism destination, in order to deeply understand the benefits of these media for promoting tourism destinations in a global perspective, reaching a wider range of potential visitors, and developing ad hoc and marketing strategies with benefits for competitive advantage on the market. Design/methodology/approach – The research focuses on an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which also integrates the constructs e‐word‐of‐mouth communication and enjoyment. In particular, 1,397 experience users have been involved. Findings – The main findings are related to the key role of e‐word of mouth communication on both the perception of usefulness and the attitude towards the use of social network as powerful tool for the choice of tourism destinations; as well as to enjoyment which underlines the role of the fun provided by the social network and represents a stronger predictor for consumer attitude and tourism behavior intention. Research limitations/implications – This research does not focus on a specific tourists' destinations, thus the presence of different destinations may affect consumers in different ways, according to their involvement towards to a particular destination. This study contributes to deepening the scientific debate on the tourist's destinations. Practical implications – The findings of this research support the development of tourism marketing and communication strategies focused on the online contexts as factors capable of influencing tourists' behaviour in a more efficient way. Originality/value – This paper focuses on the web‐based technologies, like social media, in order to deeply understand to what extend tourists accept the usage of these technologies for the choice of destination, by providing issues for researchers and practitioners. The present research is of a multidisciplinary value, by linking business science, psychology and social science.
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology – Emerald Publishing
Published: Mar 16, 2012
Keywords: Tourist behaviour; E‐word‐of‐mouth communication; Social networks; Technology Acceptance Model (TAM); Consumer behaviour
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.