[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714.

[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714
An Exploratory Study of the Social Media Influences on Singaporean Young Adults
TOU322 Tourism and Events Project
Angelina Tay
33302714
Ms. Misha
APA 6th Edition
RQ1 – How e-word of mouth(eWOM) and online reviews influences Singaporean young
adults?
RQ2 – How credible is social media in influencing the purchase of tourism services from the
perspective of Singaporean young adults?
RQ3 – What are the factors influencing the use of information retrieved from social media?
Author Note
This research was being conducted to meet the requirements for TOU332, Tourism and
Events Project
Correspondence concerning this article should be address to Angelina Tay, School of Arts,
Murdoch University. Email: [e-mail]
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[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714
Executive Summary
Travel information seeking has changed drastically over the last 15 years, where traditional
media sources have been all replaced by the internet. Travelers now gather travel information
through various websites and social media platforms at the tip of their fingers. The research
questions for this research are, ‘How e-word of mouth(eWOM) and online reviews influences
Singaporean young adults?’, ‘How credible is social media in influencing the purchase of
tourism services from the perspective of Singaporean young adults?’, ‘What are the factors
influencing the use of information retrieved from social media?’. The objective of this is to
explore how eWOM and online reviews influence travel decision making and its credibility,
and factors influencing the use of information retrieved.
This research starts with an introduction which briefly justifies the background of the use of
social media for making travel decisions, which is followed by the second chapter which is a
literature review to gather better understanding of the motivations, information reliability and
attitudes of travelers towards the use of social media for travel decisions.
According to existing research, the main motivations of travelers using social media to make
travel decisions are to engage in information seeking, to decrease uncertainty, to narrow
down their options and to feel a sense of belonging (social cohesion). While as for
information reliability it has been found that traditional WOM is said to be more trustworthy
than eWOM. Lastly, the attitudes of travelers towards the use of social media are; the
perceived ease of use of social media to retrieve information, the perceived enjoyment from
using social media when sourcing for travel information and the perceived value attained
from using social media instead of traditional forms.
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[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714
The third chapter discusses the methodology which this research has undertaken and also
includes the ethical considerations as well as research limitations. A quantitative study was
carried out with 102 participants through an online survey. The fourth chapter of this research
analyses the data that was gathered through the online survey.
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[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
..........................................................................2
List of Tables
................................................................................. 6
List of Figures
................................................................................ 6
Abstract
....................................................................................... 7
Declaration
................................................................................... 8
Acknowledgement
............................................................................9
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
..........................................................10
1.1 Topic Background and Overview.......................................................10
1.2 Research Gap............................................................................10
1.3 Research Significance...................................................................10
1.4 Research Aim and Objectives...........................................................10
1.5 Research Context and Scope............................................................10
1.6 Chapter Outline of Report..............................................................10
1.7 Research Objectives.....................................................................10
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
...................................................12
2.2 Motivation of travelers to engage in social media for travel decisions................12
2.3 Information reliability of reviews posted on social media platforms.................13
2.3 Attitudes of travelers towards using social media for travel decisions...............15
2.4 Conclusion...............................................................................16
2.5 Conceptual Framework.................................................................17
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
...........................................18
3.1 Research Approach......................................................................18
3.2 Research Strategies......................................................................18
3.3 Research Data Collection Method......................................................19
3.4 Sampling and Data Access..............................................................19
3.5 Structure of Survey Form...............................................................20
3.6 Ethical Considerations..................................................................20
3.7 Research Limitations....................................................................20
3.8 Proposed Data Analysis Methods.......................................................20
3.9 Conclusion...............................................................................21
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
...........................................22
4.1 Demographics............................................................................22
4.2 Tripographic Profile....................................................................23
4.3 Motivations of using social media......................................................24
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[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714
4.4 Attitudes of travelers towards using social media.....................................26
4.5 Information reliability of reviews posted on social media platforms.................27
4.6 Conclusion...............................................................................28
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
.............................................................29
5.1 Motivations of using social media......................................................29
5.2 Information reliability of reviews posted on social media platforms.................29
5.3 Attitudes of travelers towards using social media.....................................29
5.4 Research Limitation.....................................................................29
5.5 Research Implications & future research..............................................29
5.6 Conclusion...............................................................................29
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[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714
List of Tables
List of Figures
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[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714
Abstract
This study is a quantitative empirical research which aims to analyze the motivations,
information reliability and attitudes of travelers towards the use of social media to make
travel decisions. The purpose of this study is to further understand the motivations of
Singaporean young adults using social media to make travel decisions. The existing research
revealed that there is limited scholarly attention given to specifically Singaporean young
adults who uses social media for travel planning. The respondents with a sample size of 102,
with the age of 18-35 years of age were used for the study.
The key motivations which were discovered through this essay were
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[TOU322 The Project Report] | Angelina Tay 33302714
Declaration
I certify that this research does not incorporate any materials previously submitted in any
university without any acknowledgment; and that to my best belief it does not contain any
materials which are previously published by another person where the reference is not made
in the text.
Printed Name: Angelina Tay
Signature:
Date: 23rd July 2019
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