Using TikTok in tourism destination choice: A young Chinese tourists' perspective

Abstract

This study adopted the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 to investigate the influence of TikTok on the travel decision-making of young Chinese tourists. The model was further adapted by introducing the variable of perceived trust and using age as a moderating variable, to examine the differences between millennials and Generation Z. The findings of multiple cluster analysis and structural equation modeling indicated that perceived trust and hedonic motivation were the most important drivers of these tourists' actual behavior. The results also revealed that there are significant differences in the factors that influence the choice of destination for Millennials and Gen Z using TikTok. This study enriches research and empirical investigation of TikTok in the context of tourism marketing and consumer decision-making in the digital environment. Its findings will help tourism marketers use short video-sharing platforms more effectively as an element of marketing.