How social media is influencing holiday decision-making trends
Research Paper
How social media is influencing holiday decision-making trends
1. Introduction
Social media has a dramatic impact on many sectors across the world especially hospitality and tourism industry. It has become a transmission channel between tourists and travel suppliers. Travel operations benefit from social media in terms of worldwide promoting and advertising their products. Also, consumers are able to access travel information sources easily. Haiyan (2010) mentions that the Internet has abundant and thorough information; therefore, people are likely to search for information from the Internet and read online travel reviews before choosing a destination. Most tourists search the information to support their decision-making (Chen et al. 2013). Therefore, social media has become the essential information channel which affects the consumers’ holiday decision process (Aymankuy et al. 2013). Furthermore, there are some people finding inspiration through social media. Kang and Schuett (2013) state that information sharing on social media may influence travel decision-making. In addition, shared information among travellers on the three stages of a trip, “pre-trip, on-site and after-trip”, may affect the vacation planning process (Walden et al. 2011: 2). This research will examine how social media plays a significant role in travellers’ trip planning.
2. Web-based communication platform
2.1 Type of social media platform
According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010: 61), social media is defined as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological functions of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content”.
Social media can represent in various forms. Outthink (2013) shows that there are six different types of social media. These are social networks (e.g., Facebook and LinkedIn), bookmarking sites (e.g., Delicious and StumbleUpon), social news (e.g., Digg and Reddit), media sharing (e.g.,
How social media is influencing holiday decision-making trends
1. Introduction
Social media has a dramatic impact on many sectors across the world especially hospitality and tourism industry. It has become a transmission channel between tourists and travel suppliers. Travel operations benefit from social media in terms of worldwide promoting and advertising their products. Also, consumers are able to access travel information sources easily. Haiyan (2010) mentions that the Internet has abundant and thorough information; therefore, people are likely to search for information from the Internet and read online travel reviews before choosing a destination. Most tourists search the information to support their decision-making (Chen et al. 2013). Therefore, social media has become the essential information channel which affects the consumers’ holiday decision process (Aymankuy et al. 2013). Furthermore, there are some people finding inspiration through social media. Kang and Schuett (2013) state that information sharing on social media may influence travel decision-making. In addition, shared information among travellers on the three stages of a trip, “pre-trip, on-site and after-trip”, may affect the vacation planning process (Walden et al. 2011: 2). This research will examine how social media plays a significant role in travellers’ trip planning.
2. Web-based communication platform
2.1 Type of social media platform
According to Kaplan and Haenlein (2010: 61), social media is defined as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological functions of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content”.
Social media can represent in various forms. Outthink (2013) shows that there are six different types of social media. These are social networks (e.g., Facebook and LinkedIn), bookmarking sites (e.g., Delicious and StumbleUpon), social news (e.g., Digg and Reddit), media sharing (e.g.,