Preparing for Takeoff: Set up Social Media for Travel Planning

This study witnesses the effects of perceived risk (PR), trust and subjective norm (SN) on attitude and behavioural intention (BI) of Indian travellers using social media for their travel planning. A survey was carried out with 288 respondents who used marketer's social media page for their decision-making in the past 12 months. A conceptual model was created after a careful review of literature and partial least square regression modelling was applied. The study focused on the under focused area, that is the influence of hotelier's social media activities on the travel planning. Most of the research investigated the impact of online travel agents or the impact of user generated content (UGC), however the focus on the hoteliers' social media presence is seldom researched. This research is very useful for academicians, researchers and policymakers working with the social media market. Academicians may further explore the role of social media to have a better understanding of their impact on the theory of planned behaviour and its components.