Social media engagement and impacts on post-COVID-19 travel intention for adventure tourism in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

This study examined the online search behavior of international students and the impacts of social media content on their intention to purchase adventure tourism products during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 international students in Auckland, New Zealand. The data collected were analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis approach. The findings demonstrate the importance of adventure tourism organizations having a comprehensive understanding of tourist perceptions and search behaviors on social media for information related to purchase intention. Both Firm-Generated Content and User-Generated Content were found to be effective and convincing with popular sources of both types of content on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TripAdvisor, as well as other more specific content and platforms directly targeting Chinese tourists. The study demonstrates how changes in customer behavior including how international tourists search for information on social media affected their intent to purchase. This highlights the importance of social media when marketing adventure tourism destinations including destinations in New Zealand. Management implications The research findings further highlight the importance of social media in the era of COVID-19 with increased use and reliance of content on social media platforms produced by firms and users. Therefore, adventure tourism marketers need to formulate new social media marketing strategies to trigger purchase intentions in accordance with the preferences of the target audiences and their own business objectives.