Tourist behaviour: The role of digital marketing and social media.

Social media and its applications are a part of daily life in Turkey and the rest of the world. In 2022, about 80.7 % of Turkey's population (69.9 million people) spent an average of 8 h daily using the Internet, providing a significant opportunity to encourage and influence tourists' purchase intentions through social media. This study aims to determine the effects of digital marketing and social media on tourist behaviours in Turkey. This study proposes a comprehensive model for the antecedents of tourists' behavioural intentions in their destination selection that can be found in the tourist destination online content (TDOC). The quality and user-friendly accessibility of the online information provides essential clues that influence tourists' behavioural intentions (intention to visit the destination and eWOM). Tourists' level of satisfaction with their first destination visits and the digital marketing interaction channels through which they share their experiences may positively affect their repeat visits/other tourists' behavioural intentions. Therefore, this study investigates the mediator effect of satisfaction and digital marketing interactions on the behavioural intentions of tourists of Eastern origin during their destination selection. Data was collected from 264 structured questionnaires and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation (PLS-SEM) modelling. Findings show that tourists' TDOC perceptions directly affect their behavioural intentions and that tourist satisfaction has a mediator role in the relationship between tourists' TDOC perceptions and behavioural intentions. Also, the results show that satisfaction and digital marketing interactions are important determinants of the intention to visit a tourist destination and eWOM intentions. Understanding tourists' perspectives on destination choice is crucial for policy makers, businesses and marketers as it will help formulate appropriate strategies to increase destination visits. In this respect, it is recommended to develop strategies to encourage tourists to share their experiences and satisfaction levels through digital marketing channels by improving the quality of products and services. Finally, the population of this study is limited to Turkey, and future research can extend this study to countries with different cultures and make new contributions to the related literature.

Consequences of local culinary memorable experience: Evidence from TikTok influencers.

Underpinned by integrating self-determination and source credibility theories (SCT), this paper investigates the focal roles of memorable local food experiences (MLX) and travel influencer endorsement (TIE) on revisit intention. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 513 TikTok influencers (individuals who frequently post videos on TikTok and have a large number of followers). A purposive sampling technique is used to collect data from TikTok influencers who create videos about food tourism in Pakistan. SmartPLS 4.4 was used with PLS-SEM. The empirical results suggest a positive and significant linkage of culinary memorable experience factors with MLX. The focal effects of MLX and TIE on revisit intention are significantly positive. Our findings further revealed that MLX partially mediated the linkage of culinary memorable experience factors with revisit intention, while TIE strengthened the positive relationship between MLX and revisit intention. The study's findings influence travel agents, local food providers, and marketing specialists who develop marketing strategies for local food tourism and online trip purchasing.

COVID-19 Adaptive Interventions: Implications for Wellbeing and Quality-of-Life.

Social bonds may assist in cultivating a more positive attitude to life through commonly shared meanings about the COVID-19 pandemic. The key challenge, however, is how to foster social bonds meeting the changing demands in a post pandemic world. Yet, it is in the middle of a crisis that the conversation needs to start about how to strategically plan for the recovery. This is important not only in the current pandemic, but also in a post pandemic world. Reinforcing or fostering new social bonds is likely to bring positive experiences. The latter is central to human health and wellbeing, and has potential to contribute greatly in enhancing people's quality of life. In an attempt to foster place social bonding in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond to subsequently contribute to wellbeing, this paper develops and proposes a new conceptual framework suggesting the need for adaptive social bonding interventions in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This is an essential measure to manage the significant impacts on our global health services due to a decline in people's mental health in addition to COVID-19 physical impacts. The paper discusses how promoting adaptive social bonding interventions (psycho-socio, digital and nature social bonding) can make people more resilient. It further discusses how they can be empowered psychologically, socially, and emotionally in the current challenging times. The conceptual framework posits that social bonding interventions can assist in maintaining better mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing and discusses how these wellbeing outcomes may also be experienced post the pandemic. This has important benefits and is of relevance to governments, policy makers and healthcare professionals in delivering better health care and equipping people with coping mechanisms both throughout the pandemic and in the long run.

Prosociality in times of separation and loss.

Humans are particularly drawn to social connections. Prosociality in times of loss and separation requires intervention designs aimed at reinforcing social bonds to help those grieving. Prosocial behaviors reinforce social support, contribute to resilience, and promote mental health, overall well-being, and quality of life. This review summarizes multidisciplinary evidence from the literature showing emerging trends in prosocial behavior, loss, and separation research with adaptive prosocial interventions to promote resilience contributing to mental well-being and quality-of-life outcomes. A summary of research findings showing the digital transformation to promote prosocial behaviors for mental well-being is provided. Finally, new and classic evidence of prosocial behaviors for adaptation and resilience in the community is discussed to promote future prosociality in loss and separation.

Shaping customer brand loyalty during the pandemic: The role of brand credibility, value congruence, experience, identification, and engagement.

While insight into consumer brand engagement, experience, and identification is rapidly developing, little remains known regarding the association of these, and related, concepts, as therefore explored in this article. Drawing on social identity theory and service-dominant-logic, this study develops and tests a model that explores the effect of customers' brand credibility, -value congruence, and -experience on their brand identification, and its subsequent effect on their brand advocacy, -attachment, and -loyalty. We also examine the potentially moderating role of consumers' engagement in affecting these relationships. To explore these issues, we collected tourist-based survey data. To analyze the data, we used confirmatory factor analysis, followed by structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that brand value congruence, credibility, and experience exercise significant positive effects on customers' brand identification, which, in turn, impact their brand advocacy, attachment, and loyalty. Further, brand engagement is shown to moderate the association of these factors. We conclude by outlining key theoretical/practical implications that arise from this research.

Place Affect Interventions During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 health and economic crisis has also brought a rise in people being unable to cope with their existing medical conditions and other issues such as domestic violence, drugs, and alcohol among others. Suicidal tendencies have been on the rise. Feelings of isolation causing emotional distress in place-confined settings have put additional pressure on the healthcare systems demanding that we find additional and complementary means of support for those in need. This is important not only in the current pandemic but also in the post-pandemic world. The goal is to collectively contribute and address the recurring calls for actions to maintain global well-being and public health. An important discussion to bring on the table is the need to promote interventions for people to cope with the pandemic and to adjust to the post-pandemic world. Promoting affective attitudes toward place can foster well-being outcomes. This has important benefits and is of relevance to governments, policymakers, and healthcare professionals in delivering better healthcare equipping people with coping mechanisms both throughout the pandemic and in the long run. However, the key challenge is how to foster these place affect attitudes meeting the changing demands in the post-pandemic world. It is in the middle of a crisis that the conversation needs to start about how to strategically plan for the recovery.

Health, Wellness, and Place Attachment During and Post Health Pandemics.

Therapeutic landscapes encapsulate healing and recovery notions in natural and built environmental settings. Tourists' perceptions determine their decision making of health and wellness tourism consumption. Researchers struggle with the conceptualization of the term 'therapeutic landscapes' across disciplines. Drawing on extant literature searched in nine databases, this scoping review identifies different dimensions of therapeutic landscapes. Out of identified 178 literature sources, 124 met the inclusion criteria of identified keywords. We review the contribution and the potential of environmental psychology in understanding tourist behavior to promote health and wellness tourism destinations in a post COVID-19 context. We develop and propose a conceptual framework comprising: (1) perceived goodness of therapeutic landscapes, (2) health and wellness consumption, (3) COVID-19 pandemic perceived health and wellness risk, (4) place attachment, and (5) re-visitation. We propose measurement scales and discuss implications and major issues in the immediate and post the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future research.

COVID-19 Place Confinement, Pro-Social, Pro-environmental Behaviors, and Residents' Wellbeing: A New Conceptual Framework.

Residents' wellbeing in the present COVID-19 global health crisis requires a deeper understanding to determine appropriate management strategies to promote sustainable behaviors and contribute to human and planetary health. Residents' behavior can have a profound influence in contributing to personal and global community's health by responding effectively to emergency strategies in disease outbreaks such as the Coronavirus. It is evident that an understanding of residents' behavior(s) pre COVID-19 across fields have relied on over-simplistic models, many of which will need to be revisited. Our interaction with people and nature while respecting social distancing has profound positive impacts on our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. The current health pandemic has called that people be confined in their homes across many nations as a means to control the spread of the virus and save lives. This calls for research exploring the mechanisms; this paper develops and proposes a conceptual framework suggesting that place confinement promotes pro-social and household pro-environmental behaviors which could become habitual and contribute further to our people's and our planet's health. The proposed model concerns socio-economically favored social sectors whose survival is not as threatened by the pandemic as the poor sectors where wellbeing (and mental health) are at high risk. Some evidence shows that human connectedness to place may contribute to engagement in desirable behaviors. Interaction with other members of the household can help create meanings leading to collective actions promoting psychological wellbeing. Promoting hygienic behaviors in the household (frequent hand washing) while at the same time being conscious not to keep the water flowing when not required would contribute to a range of benefits (health, financial, biospheric, altruistic) and promote wellbeing. Engaging in pro-social behaviors may result in positive effects on psychological wellbeing, reducing mental distress giving rise to a sense of attachment and belongingness, trust and overall life satisfaction. Engaging people in low-effort pro-environmental behavior to maintain some levels of physical activity and biological harmony with natural environmental settings (e.g., gardening) may help reduce anxiety and distress. This is the first study exploring the interplay of relationships between place confinement, pro-social behavior, household pro-environmental behaviors, place attachment as a multi-dimensional construct and presenting their relationships to residents' wellbeing. Behavioral change interventions are proposed to promote lifestyle change for people's wellbeing and broader societal benefits.

Online Tourism Information and Tourist Behavior: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis Based on a Self-Administered Survey.

This study presents the interacting phenomena of perceptions of tourist destination online content (TDOC) and tourists' behavioral intentions with a mediating role of tourists' satisfaction, which is as yet under-explored in hospitality and tourism research. A model based on three main constructs, namely TDOC (with sub-constructs of online information quality and user-friendly accessibility), satisfaction, and tourists' behavioral intentions [with sub-constructs of intentions to visit a tourist destination and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)], is presented to determine the growth of tourism business with the internet. Data were collected via a questionnaire-based survey from 413 tourists staying at hotels in Lahore city in Pakistan. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to statistically analyze the gathered data. The findings indicate that tourists' perceptions of TDOC directly influence their behavioral intentions, while tourists' satisfaction exerts a mediating influence between tourists' perceptions of TDOC and their behavioral intentions. Taking advantage of an economical and widespread online environment, destination marketing organizations could attract more tourists by fostering confidence in TDOC and positive eWOM to remain competitive in the long run. Important theoretical and practical implications are discussed.