How do tourists search for tourism information via smartphone before and during their trip?

ABSTRACT

This study examined tourists’ smartphone use patterns for tourism information searches. We explored associations between respondents’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and smartphone use for their most recent trip. Then, we compared differences in tourism information categories searched via smartphone before and during trips, respectively. Using data collected from tourists who visited coastal destinations in South Carolina, USA, a series of chi-square tests were conducted. Findings reveal that respondents’ employment status and age were significantly associated with smartphone use during their most recent trip. Furthermore, results show significant differences in tourism information categories searched via smartphone before and during trips, respectively. Based on these results, theoretical and practical implications are provided to better understand tourists’ information search behaviour via smartphones.

KEYWORDS:

• Smartphone
• tourism information search
• trip planning
• travel phase

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sanghoon Kang is a Research Professor in the Tourism Research Institute at Kyonggi University, Republic of Korea. He earned his MS in Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies with a Graduate Specialisation in Global Urban Studies at Michigan State University, and PhD in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University, South Carolina, USA. His primary research interests lie in the areas of spatial aspects of tourism planning, development, and management.

Laura W. Jodice was a Research Associate in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University, South Carolina, USA. Her research interests focus on identifying and developing educational and outreach strategies that improve public understanding of and involvement in fisheries and aquaculture processes, production, and harvest; other marine resource dependent industries and other local food production industries.

William C. Norman is a Professor in Clemson University’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management and the former Director of the Recreation, Travel and Tourism Institute. Norman works closely with graduate students from around the world conducting theoretically-based and applied recreation and tourism research that assists South Carolina's tourism industry and leisure service providers as well as other industry sectors (e.g. aquaculture).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium (US) with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (US): [Grant Number NA10OAR4170073]; Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea: [Grant Number NRF-2016S1A5B8914028].