article · Heliyon
An investigation into the trustworthiness of social media travel and tourism information sources surveyed 310 international tourists visiting Ethiopia. Using statistical analyses to evaluate visitor attitudes across different demographic profiles, the study found that visitors generally held positive perceptions regarding the credibility of social media channels. However, the level of perceived trustworthiness varied significantly across age groups. Tourists aged between 18 and 35 demonstrated the highest agreement with the reliability of online travel content. In contrast, trust levels marginally declined as the age of the visitors increased, with travellers over the age of 46 reporting the lowest trust scores. These results demonstrate distinct age-related differences in how international travellers evaluate travel information found across social platforms.
Understanding how tourists view social media information helps destination planners and operators tailor their communication strategies effectively. Because younger travellers display markedly higher trust in digital platforms than older demographics, tourism providers need to account for generational differences when deciding which media channels to use to reach and influence prospective international visitors.
The findings offer market intelligence for tourism boards, travel agencies, and digital marketing teams designing campaigns for international visitors. As applied market research, the insights are ready for immediate use to optimise digital channel spending according to target age groups, although the abstract does not describe a proprietary technology or dedicated commercial product.
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Credibility of social media travel information sources is one of the most debatable topics among scholars. This research is designed to address the trustworthiness of travel and tourism information sources of social media platforms. Cross-sectional research design and convenience sampling was applied. Statistical Package for Social Science version 23 was employed to compute mean, one sample T-test, independent sample T-test and one-way Analysis of variance. Eta squared was calculated to measure the effect size or magnitude of mean difference. The effective sample size is 310 visitors. The findings revealed that visitors had a positive perception towards the trustworthiness of social media travel information sources. Visitors with the age of 18-35 years have a higher level of agreement towards the trustworthiness of social media travel information sources. As the age of visitors increases, the mean scores marginally decreases where the lowest mean scores lay on visitors who are above 46 years. Limitations and managerial/industrial implications are detailed.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03439
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