Influence of Social Media Advertising on Travel Decisions with the Moderating Effect of Travel Motivation; Study on Millennials and Gen Z

Abstract

Millions of people around the world have been using social media to both inspire and plan their travel destinations. Perhaps, it is safe to assume that millennials and Gen Z are heavily reliant on social media influencers for their travel decisions. The purpose of this is to look at the effect of social media advertising on travel decisions and how travel motivation acts as a moderator. Furthermore, it investigates other ad elements specifically addressing how ad formats, Ad content, and ad engagement affect travel decision choices made by people, thus bridging an existing gap in the current body of literature about the subject of advertising. This study produced primary data through a structured questionnaire and convenience sampling from 434 respondents in a quantitative manner. In particular, descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis consisting of 30 in IBM SPSS Statistics were used in data analysis, to provide a clearer interrelationship of variables in question. The findings concluded that travel decisions are affected by social media advertisements. This study was able to identify certain elements of advertising and marketing, such as ad content, engagement, and format which are influential when connecting consumers' behaviour with marketers. Even more, travel motivation was found to moderate the connection and thus increase the usefulness of social media advertising effectively to influence travel behavioral decisions. This study is limited by reliance on convenience sampling and self-reported information, which may introduce biases. Further, the focus on Millennials and Gen Z in a specific geographical area limits the generalizability of the findings to other demographic groups and settings. Conclusively, this study contributed to both theoretical and practical implications aligning social media advertising approaches with user preferences and motivations. Businesses operating in the travel industry could use the insights to develop tailored campaigns that could increase engagement, influence travel decisions, and foster long-term loyalty. Future research will examine the effects of emerging digital platforms and include a range of demographic and cultural settings to increase the generalizability of these findings.