The Influence of Visual Elements of Social Media on the Behavior of Generation Z Tourists
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18690/Keywords:
Tourism, Generation Z, Decision-making, eWOM, Credibility, Visual elementsAbstract
In today's online world, where all information is available to users with just one click, it is challenging to determine their credibility. Given the fact that there are almost 5 billion social media users, it is safe to say that social media has become an essential part of everyday life for many users, especially members of Generation Z. When filtering the pool of information, visual elements play a significant role in the decision-making process for users. Generation Z is composed of young people born between 1995 and 2005. They are considered the originators of social media and the virtual world, and spend the most time analysing content in the form of photographs or videos. The main reason why Generation Z members prioritise visual elements more than textual ones stems from the higher degree of reliability and trust that this type of content displays. To analyse how photos and videos influence the trust of members of Generation Z in online recommendations, a survey was conducted in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, in which the Pearson correlation test was applied. The research lasted from February to March 2024. Moreover, a study was conducted on a sample of 305 respondents, where the sample was convenience, and the obtained data were tested using the IBM SPSS Statistics platform. The main findings indicate how visual elements of social media, such as photos and videos, influence a greater degree of trust in credibility among Generation Z.
References
Adami, E., & Jewitt, C. (2016). Social media and the visual. Visual Communication, 15(3), 263–270. DOI: 10.1177/1470357216644153
Akın, M. H., & Şener, B. (2024). The Impact Of Social Media On Destination Choice: A Study on Generation Z. Journal of Management, Economic and Marketing Research 2024, 8(1), 1–21. DOI: 10.21325/jotags.2023.1406
Berhanu, K., & Raj, S. (2020). The trustworthiness of travel and tourism information sources of social media: perspectives of international tourists visiting Ethiopia. Heliyon, 6(3). DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03439
Cheung, M. Y., Luo, C., Sia, C. L., & Chen, H. (2009). Credibility of electronic word-of-mouth: Informational and normative determinants of on-line consumer recommendations. International journal of electronic commerce, 13(4), 9–38. DOI: 10.2753/JEC1086-4415130402
Da Mota, V. T., & Pickering, C. (2020). Using social media to assess nature-based tourism: Current research and future trends. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 30, 100295. DOI: 10.1038/srep02976
David, G. (2010). Camera phone images, videos and live streaming: a contemporary visual trend. Visual Studies, 25(1), 89–98. DOI: 10.1080/14725861003607017
Dinhopl, A. & Gretzel, U. (2016). Conceptualizing tourist videography. Information Technology & Tourism, 15, 395-410. DOI: 10.1007/s40558-015-0039-7
Figueredo, M., Cacho, N., Thome, A., Cacho, A., Lopes, F., & Araujo, M. (2017, December). Using social media photos to identify tourism preferences in smart tourism destination. In 2017 IEEE international conference on big data (big data) (pp. 4068–4073). IEEE.
Huertas, A. (2018). How live videos and stories in social media influence tourist opinions and behaviour. Information Technology & Tourism, 19(1), 1–28. DOI: 10.1007/s40558-018-0112-0
Huertas, A., Míguez-González, M. I., & Lozano-Monterrubio, N. (2017). YouTube usage by Spanish tourist destinations as a tool to communicate their identities and brands. Journal of Brand Management, 24, 211–229. DOI: 10.1057/s41262-017-0031-y
Kang, M., & Schuett, M. A. (2013). Determinants of sharing travel experiences in social media. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30(1-2), 93–107. DOI: 10.1080/10548408.2013.751237
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons, 53(1), 59–68. DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003
Kiráľová, A., & Pavlíčeka, A. (2015). Development of social media strategies in tourism destination. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 175, 358–366. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.1211
Lalicic, L., & Weismayer, C. (2016). The passionate use of mobiles phones among tourists. Information Technology & Tourism, 16, 153–173. DOI: 10.1007/s40558-015-0042-z
Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E., & Pan, B. (2018). A retrospective view of electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(1), 313–325. DOI: 10.1108/IJCHM-08-2016-0461
Liu, J., Wang, Y., & Chang, L. (2023). How do short videos influence users’ tourism intention? A study of key factors. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 1036570. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1036570
Manap, K. A., & Adzharudin, N. A. (2013, January). The role of user-generated content (UGC) in social media for the tourism sector. In The 2013 WEI international academic conference proceedings, 7(1), (pp. 52–58).
Marić, D., Leković, K., & Džever, S. (2024). The impact of online recommendations on tourists' decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anali Ekonomskog fakulteta u Subotici, 60(51), 3–13.
Paul, H. S., Roy, D., & Mia, R. (2019). Influence of social media on tourists’ destination selection decision. Sch. Bull, 5(11), 658–664. DOI: 10.36348/SB.2019.v05i11.009
Pera, R., Quinton, S., & Baima, G. (2020). I am who I am: Sharing photos on social media by older consumers and its influence on subjective well‐being. Psychology & Marketing, 37(6), 782–795. DOI: 10.1002/mar.21337
Pricope Vancia, A. P., Băltescu, C. A., Brătucu, G., Tecău, A. S., Chițu, I. B., & Duguleană, L. (2023). Examining the disruptive potential of generation Z tourists on the travel industry in the Digital age. Sustainability, 15(11), 8756. DOI: 10.3390/su15118756
Robinson, V. M., & Schänzel, H. A. (2019). A tourism inflex: Generation Z travel experiences. Journal of tourism futures, 5(2), 127–141. DOI: 10.1108/JTF-01-2019-0014
Tussyadiah, I. P., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2009). Mediating tourist experiences: Access to places via shared videos. Annals of tourism research, 36(1), 24–40. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2008.10.001
Wathen, C. N., & Burkell, J. (2002). Believe it or not: Factors influencing credibility on the Web. Journal of the American society for information science and technology, 53(2), 134–144. DOI: 10.1002/asi.10016
Zhao, C., Shen, H., & Zhang, Y. (2022). The study on the impact of short video tourism vloggers at social media platform on online sharing intention. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 905002. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.905002
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Dražen Marić, Ksenija Leković, Sanja Džever, Dunja Kostić, Aleksandar Vasiljević
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.