Home⇛Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives⇛vol. 2 no. 8 (2024)

The Influence of Social Media as a Tourism Marketing Tool in Negros Oriental, Philippines

Ryan O. Tayco | Millard Vaughn Tubog | Glennen Y. Zamora

Discipline: tourism, transport and travel

 

Abstract:

The study aimed to determine the influence of social media as a tourism marketing tool for Negros Oriental as a tourist destination. Utilizing a descriptive method and a correlational technique, this research focused on both local and foreign tourists visiting Negros Oriental. A total of 392 tourists were selected through convenience sampling to participate as respondents. Results indicate that the majority of respondents are female, unmarried, aged between 18 and 30, and heavily rely on social media for information, particularly when planning activities and trips. A significant portion of respondents are college-educated Filipinos, who spend an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes daily on social media. Most respondents are employed and use social media for both professional and personal purposes. Findings reveal that most travelers visit Negros Oriental for relaxation and extensively use smartphones for travel-related purposes. Facebook emerged as the most commonly used platform, significantly influencing travel decisions and planning. Socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, civil status, educational level, and occupation were found to influence social media usage patterns and travel decisions. The study concludes that social media is an effective tourism marketing tool, capable of influencing tourists' decisions regarding their visits to tourist destinations.



References:

  1. Ab Hamid, N. R., Akhir, R. M., & Cheng, A. Y. (2013). Social media: An emerging dimension of marketing communication. Journal of Management and Marketing Research, 12, 1.
  2. Alnjadat, R., Hmaidi, M. M., Samha, T. E., Kilani, M. M., & Hasswan, A. M. (2019). Gender variations in social media usage and academic performance among the students of the University of Sharjah. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 14(4), 390-394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtumed.2019.05.002
  3. Aparicio-Martínez, P., Ruiz-Rubio, M., Perea-Moreno, A.-J., Martínez-Jiménez, M. P., Pagliari, C., Redel-Macías, M. D., & Vaquero-Abellán, M. (2020). Gender differences in the addiction to social networks in the southern Spanish university students. Telematics and Informatics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2019.101304.
  4. Ayeh, J. K., Au, N., & Law, R. (2013). Predicting the intention to use consumer-generated media for travel planning. Tourism Management, 35(4), 132–143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2012.06.010
  5. Buhalis, D. (1998). Strategic use of information technologies in the tourism industry. Tourism Management, 19(5), 409–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(98)00038-7
  6. Casaló, L. V., Flavián, C., & Guinalíu, M. (2010). Determinants of the intention to participate in firm-hosted online travel communities and effects on consumer behavioral intentions. Tourism Management, 31(6), 898-911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2010.04.007
  7. Chung, J. Y., & Buhalis, D. (2008). Information needs in online social networks. Information Technology & Tourism, 10(4), 267-281. https://doi.org/10.3727/109830508788403123
  8. de Amorim, L. A., Sousa, B. B., Dias, A. L., & Santos, V. R. (2022). Exploring the outcomes of digital marketing on historic sites’ visitor behavior. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-11-2021-0202
  9. Fotis, J. N., Buhalis, D., & Rossides, N. (2012). Social media use and impact during the holiday travel planning. In M. Fuchs, F. Ricci, & L. Cantoni (Eds.), Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2012 (pp. 13-24). Springer.
  10. Gretzel, U., Yuan, Y. L., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2000). Preparing for the new economy: Advertising strategies and change in destination marketing organizations. Journal of Travel Research, 39(2), 146–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/004728750003900204
  11. Javed, M., Tučková, Z., & Jibril, A. B. (2020). The role of social media on tourists’ behavior: An empirical analysis of millennials from the Czech Republic. Sustainability, 12(18), 7735. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187735
  12. Idemudia, C. E., Raisinghani, S. M., Adeola, O., & Achebo, N. (2017). The effects of gender on the adoption of social media: An empirical investigation. In 23rd Americas Conference on Information Systems (pp. 1-10). Boston, MA.
  13. Islam, M. T. (2021). Applications of social media in the tourism industry: A review. SEISENSE Journal of Management, 4(1), 59-68. https://doi.org/10.33215/sjom.v4i1.556
  14. Karatsoli, M., & Nathanail, E. (2020). Examining gender differences in social media use for activity planning and travel choices. European Transport Research Review, 12(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12544-020-00436-4
  15. Kang, M., & Schuett, M. A. (2013). Determinants of sharing travel experiences in social media. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30(1-2), 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2013.751237
  16. Khan, S. A. R., Umar, M., Tanveer, M., Yu, Z., & Janjua, L. R. (2022, March). Business data analytic and digital marketing: Business strategies in the era of COVID-19. In 2022 7th International Conference on Data Science and Machine Learning Applications (CDMA) (pp. 13-18). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/CDMA54072.2022.00008
  17. Leung, X. Y., & Jiang, L. (2018). How do destination Facebook pages work? An extended TPB model of fans’ visit intention. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 9(3), 397-416. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-08-2017-0069
  18. Lin, K. Y., & Lu, H. P. (2011). Why people use social networking sites: An empirical study integrating network externalities and motivation theory. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(3), 1152–1161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.12.009
  19. Lin, X., & Wang, X. (2020). Examining gender differences in people’s information-sharing decisions on social networking sites. International Journal of Information Management, 50, 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.05.004
  20. Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E., & Pan, B. (2008). Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management. Tourism Management, 29(3), 458–468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2007.05.011
  21. Litvin, S. W., Blose, J. E., & Laird, S. T. (2005). Tourists use restaurant webpages: Is the Internet a critical marketing tool? Journal of Vacation Marketing, 11(2), 155-161. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356766705052572
  22. Liu, X., Mehraliyev, F., Liu, C., & Schuckert, M. (2020). The roles of social media in tourists’ choices of travel components. Tourist Studies, 20(1), 27-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797619873107
  23. Magano, J., & Cunha, M. N. (2020). Digital marketing impact on tourism in Portugal: A quantitative study. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 9(1), 1-19.
  24. Mariani, M. M., Di Felice, M., & Mura, M. (2016). Facebook as a destination marketing tool: Evidence from Italian regional Destination Management Organizations. Tourism Management, 54, 321-343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.12.008
  25. Narangajavana Kaosiri, Y., Callarisa Fiol, L. J., Moliner Tena, M. Á., Rodríguez Artola, R. M., & Sánchez García, J. (2019). User-generated content sources in social media: A new approach to explore tourist satisfaction. Journal of Travel Research, 58(2), 253-265. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287517746014
  26. Ružić, D., & Biloš, A. (2010). Social media in destination marketing organizations. In Tourism & Hospitality Management Conference Proceedings (pp. 178-190).
  27. Safko, L. (2010). The social media bible: Tactics, tools, and strategies for business success. John Wiley & Sons.
  28. Sahin, G. G., & Sengün, G. (2015). The effects of social media on tourism marketing: A study among university students. Management and Administrative Sciences Review, 4(5), 772-786.
  29. Senecal, S., & Nantel, J. (2004). The influence of online product recommendations on consumers’ online choices. Journal of Retailing, 80(2), 159-169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2004.04.001
  30. Tayco, R. O., & Sequiňo, A. C. (2014). A correlational analysis of global climate risk indices and tourism industry indicators using fractal statistics. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 2(1).
  31. The Negros Chronicle. (2019). Dumaguete tourist arrivals up in 2019. Retrieved from https://negroschronicle.com/dumaguete-tourist-arrivals-up-in-2019/
  32. Uygur, S. M., & Bayram, Ö. G. A. (2013). Sanal pazarlama karması bileşenlerinin 4S modeli kapsamında turizm açısından irdelenmesi. Marmara Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 4, 19-37.
  33. Xiang, Z., Gretzel, U., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2009). Semantic representation of tourism on the Internet. Journal of Travel Research, 47(4), 440-453. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287508326650

Tools


Copyright © 2024  KITE Digital Educational Solutions |  Exclusively distributed by CE-Logic