Impact of User Generated Content on Purchase Intention Towards Boutique Hotels and Resorts in Sri Lanka with the Mediation Role of Brand Love

Abstract

The tourism sector including hotels in Sri Lanka heavily applies digital content marketing for brand promotions. The main purpose of this research is to distinguish the relationship between User Generated Content of Travelers in Sri Lanka and Customer Purchase Intention whilst examining the mediating role of brand love supported by empirical and practice gaps. Study was based on a deductive approach and the conceptual framework was derived based on the literature. Due to the ongoing pandemic situation, respondents were given an online questionnaire followed by a convenient sampling method. Data was analyzed by using SPSS Software. The findings proved that there is a significant impact of User Generated Content on Customer Purchase Intention towards Boutique Hotels and Resorts in Sri Lanka. Further, the analysis also concludes that Brand Love mediates the impact made by User Generated Content on Customer Purchase Intention. The findings and discussions provide a direction for managerial implications for the hotel sector of Sri Lanka.