Exploring the Relationship between Travel Motivations and Information Sharing Behaviors on Social Media: Gendered Differences of Chinese Gen Y in a Context of Confucianism

ABSTRACT

This research aims to explore the relationship between travel motivations and information sharing behaviors on social media in a context of Confucianism, and examine whether there are significant differences across gender. Partial least squares – structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis. By conducting a multigroup analysis (MGA), it is found that there are significant differences between three travel motivations (i.e. exciting experiences, escape and relationship/socializing) and travel information sharing between Chinese Gen Y males and females. More significantly, gender-based differences reveal a combination of traditionality and modernity of social norms guiding Chinese Gen Y’s travel motivations and online information sharing behaviors. This paper makes theoretical contributions to tourism literature with regard to Chinese tourists and China’s outbound tourism market by comparing Gen Y males and females in a Confucianism context. Furthermore, marketing implications and future research directions are provided.

摘要

本文旨在探索儒家文化背景下, 旅游动机与社交媒体信息共享行为关系, 并检验性别之间是否存在明显差异。这项研究采用偏最小二乘法 - 结构方程模型 (PLS-SEM) 分析数据, 通过多群组分析 (MGA) 发现, 就三种旅游动机 (即令人兴奋的经历, 逃避和关系/社交) 与旅游信息分享行为间的关系, 中国Y世代男性和女性之间存在明显差异, 从而揭示了社会规范传统性和现代性共同影响中国Y世代旅游动机和在线信息共享行为。通过比较儒家文化背景下Y世代男性和女性, 本文对中国游客和中国出境旅游市场相关文献做出了理论贡献, 并提供了市场营销策略以及未来学术研究方向。

KEYWORDS:

• Travel motivation
• travel information sharing
• confucianism
• gender
• Chinese gen Y

关键词:

• 旅游动机
• 旅游信息分享
• 儒家文化
• 性别
• 中国Y世代

Acknowledgments

Dr. Harng Luh Sin provided valuable opinions to the current research. The authors are very grateful for her contributions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fei Long

Fei Long is currently pursuing his PhD at The National University of Malaysia (UKM) after 6 years of corporate experiences in marketing and communications. His research focuses on Chinese outbound tourism, consumer behavior and social justice. He was also a visiting researcher at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in November 2019 (E-mail: [email protected]).

Norzalita Abd Aziz

Norzalita Abd Aziz is Associate Professor at UKM-Graduate School of Business. Her scholarly interests range widely, including services marketing, especially in tourism and hospitality, electronic marketing, consumer behavior and entrepreneurship (Email: [email protected]).

Abdul Hafaz Ngah

Abdul Hafaz Ngah is Senior Lecturer in School of Maritime Business and Management, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. His research interests include halal supply chain, tourism management, technology adoption and employability skills (E-mail: [email protected]).