Social Media as a Tool to Help Select Tourism Destinations: The Case of Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This study modeled use of social media as a tool to select tourism destinations. The findings revealed that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, and electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) directly influenced the attitude and has an indirect effect on intention with the presence of attitude. The development of tourism marketing and communication strategies should focus on the online context as the factors which are capable of influencing tourists’ behavior in a more efficient way.

KEYWORDS:

• Extended technology acceptance model
• perceived ease of use
• perceived risk and electronic word of mouth communication
• perceived usefulness
• social media
• tourism

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lim Yan Hua

Lim Yan Hua completed her Masters of Business Administration at Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her research focused on use of social media tool in tourism management. Currently, she is working freelance: taking on assignments which spark her interest only.

T. Ramayah

T. Ramayah is currently a professor of Technology Management at the School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia; visiting professor at King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and adjunct professor at Sunway University, Multimedia University, and Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia. His areas of interest include technology management and also the use of quantitative methods in management research. His publications have appeared in Information & Management, Journal of Environmental Management, Technovation, Journal of Business Ethics Computers in Human Behavior, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, International Journal of Information Management, and Journal of Medical Systems, among others. His full profile can be accessed from http://www.ramayah.com.

Teoh Ai Ping

Teoh Ai Ping is a senior lecturer with the Graduate School of Business at Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her professional career began as a consultant in SAP R/3 enterprise resource planning system. Five years later, she progressed to join Wawasan Open University as a senior lecturer and was later appointed the Deputy Dean in School of Business and Administration. Dr. Teoh’s areas of expertise include enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, technology-based service systems, enterprise risk management, and internal auditing. She conducted numerous workshops and trainings in her areas of expertise for industry and government agencies.

Cheah Jun-Hwa (Jacky)

Cheah Jun-Hwa (Jacky) is a senior lecturer with International Business School at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Kuala Lumpur. His areas of interest include consumer behaviour, marketing strategy, advertising and also the use of quantitative methods in management research.