Differences in Consumer-Generated Media Adoption and Use: A Cross-National Perspective

ABSTRACT

Adoption of consumer-generated media (CGM) and social networking applications has been reportedly rapid and impacts on the travel industry are assumed to be tremendous. CGM such as blogs, reviews and podcasts provide great opportunities for travel marketers. In order to be able to respond to CGM developments, travel marketers need to better understand what drives CGM use in different markets. Using secondary data from various sources, this paper outlines national differences in adoption speed and usage patterns for four major origin markets: the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and China. Based on the existing technology adoption literature, the information is summarized and analyzed with respect to forces which could drive these differences, mainly focusing on cultural dimensions, media landscapes, infrastructure development and information needs due to specific travel behavior characteristics. The results reveal interesting differences in these four markets and suggest that many factors stimulate CGM adoption. The findings imply that travel marketers need to adjust their CGM-based marketing strategies to the particular circumstances present in a visitor market.

KEYWORDS:

• Consumer-generated media
• technology adoption
• cross-national comparison
• tourism marketing