Social vacation: Proposition of a model to understand tourists’ usage of social media for travel planning

This study develops a theoretical model that highlights the determinants of actual social media (SM) usage for travel planning by combining theoretical frameworks from the marketing, psychology and information systems literature. The data was collected through field as well as online survey in India. An online survey questionnaire link was shared on different social media platforms and social networking sites. Besides, field visits were carried out to collect data in-person through face-to-face interviews. The final sample consists of 539 observations. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied to validate the hypothesized relationships among constructs. The results suggest that technological convenience and perceived enjoyment influence the perceived ease of using SM for travel planning. In turn, perceived ease of use impacts perceived usefulness, along with media richness. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, along with trust positively influence intentions to use SM for travel planning, while perceived risk inhibits those intentions. However, trust increases perceived usefulness and mitigates perceived risk. Importantly, intentions exert a strong impact on actual use. This study contributes to the literature by presenting and validating a theory-driven framework that unveils the factors influencing actual usage of SM for travel planning. The proposed theoretical framework emphasizes the key relationships among factors and provides a research basis for development in other contexts.