Exploring usage, expected benefits and perceived usefulness of social media in travel agencies: an empirical investigation in Italy

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the present study is to investigate travel agencies' social media usage and its perceived effectiveness by small- and micro-Italian travel agencies; the pre-pandemic period is compared to the forecasts for the post-Covid-19 period and different characteristics of firms and entrepreneurs are considered. Furthermore, the study analyses the expected benefits in terms of marketing objectives, such as improving brand image and/or personalizing the offer.Design/methodology/approachThe research was developed through a questionnaire administered electronically to travel agents (282 respondents). The resulting data was analyzed by applying the McNemar test, a pairwise t-test and the multivariate analysis of variance.FindingsThe results show that social media are strategically significant for travel agents, even though their adoption is influenced by different agency aims; the perceived effectiveness results are diversified according to varying agency typologies.Research limitations/implicationsThe two main limitations of the study are its focus on the Italian context only and the missing consideration of the consumer's point of view. The latter prevents an exhaustive assessment of future trends regarding the use of social media in the client–agency relationship.Originality/valueThe study, which focuses on a little debated topic concerning the relationship between social media and SMEs, organically explores various dimensions related to the adoption of social media by small agencies, also considering the impact of the Covid-19 on the perception of travel agents. As a further element of originality, the research takes into consideration the main social platforms separately rather than the set of tools as a whole.

Tourists' satisfaction and sense of belonging in adopting responsible behaviors: the role of on-site and social media involvement in cultural tourism

“…More in detail, although existing contributions have analyzed the influence of satisfaction on SOB (e.g. Peng and Chen, 2020), it emerges a paucity of studies attempting to investigate the role of the tourists' onsite involvement within this relationship (Hung et al, 2019), especially for what concerns its social media dimension (Splendiani et al, 2023). Indeed, the majority of existing research has focused attention on the social media role in the planning phase of the holiday (Pop et al, 2022;Tuclea et al, 2020) without deepening the analysis of their immersive functions in the travel one (Cassia et al, 2021).…”

“…Peng and Chen, 2020), it emerges a paucity of studies attempting to investigate the role of the tourists' onsite involvement within this relationship (Hung et al. , 2019), especially for what concerns its social media dimension (Splendiani et al. , 2023).…”