Smartphone Adoption amongst Chinese Youth during Leisure-based Tourism: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

With the spread of Information communications technology (ICT) in China, the tourism industry has come to recognize the importance of examining the factors that influence adoption of smartphones during leisure-based tourism among Chinese youth, a vital segment in what the world’s greatest domestic, inbound, and outbound tourism market will be by 2020. Using data collected from undergraduate students at a university in China, this study, based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of reasoned action (TRA), found that an extended model can predict travelers’ intentions. A detailed profile of Chinese youth and their smartphone usage is provided, and the managerial implications of increased adoption of Internet-capable smartphones during leisure-based tourism are also explored.

随着信息和通讯技术（ICT）在中国的推广，旅游业界已认知到研究哪些因素影响中国青年在休闲旅游期间对智能手机的采用的重要性，这将会是 2020 年全球最大的国内及出入境旅游市场。从一所中国大学在读的本科生所收集的数据，并基于技术接受模型（TAM）和理性行为理论（TRA），本研究发现扩展模型能够预测旅客的意图。本文提供了中国青年在智能手机应用的详尽资料，并探讨了旅游业界就可上网智能手机在休闲旅游的加强运用可作的经营策略调整。

KEYWORDS:

• Smartphone adoption
• leisure-based tourism
• perceived usefulness
• perceived ease of use
• emotional attachment
• social influence

关键词：:

• 智能手机采用
• 休闲型旅游
• 感知有用性
• 感知易用性
• 情感依恋
• 社会影响力

ORCID

Michael O’ Regan http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8177-2739

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael O’ Regan

Michael O’ Regan is an Assistant Professor in the Institute for Tourism Studies at Colina de Mong-Há, Macao SAR, China (E-mail: [email protected]).

He Chang

He Chang is in a post in the Surrey International Institute at Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian, China (E-mail: [email protected]).