How Does Mobile Social Media Sharing Benefit Travel Experiences?

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of tourists’ travel experience sharing via mobile social media (MSM) on perceptions of smartphone usage-based travel experience improvement and tourists’ post-trip evaluations of their travel experiences. We also examined how two self-enhancement tendencies, self-promotion and self-protection, moderate the relationship between tourists’ MSM travel experience sharing and their perceptions of smartphone usage-based travel experience improvement as well as post-trip evaluations of their travel experiences. A moderated moderation analysis revealed that MSM involvement can condition how tourists’ tendencies for self-promotion moderate the effect of tourists’ travel experience sharing via MSM on their perceptions of smartphone usage-based travel experience improvement. This moderated moderation pattern was similar for the relationship between travel experience sharing via MSM and tourists’ post-trip evaluations of their travel experiences. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided based on the findings.