Travel Information Search Behavior and Social Networking Sites: The Case of U.S. College Students

Social networking sites (SNSs) have proliferated rapidly in the last few years and continue to grow in popularity. In many sectors, college students are considered a major market. This study argues that social network services play a pivotal role in a college students’ trip information search behavior. Thereby, this study’s primary objective is to identify antecedents that influence college students’ behaviors to use SNSs in searching for travel information. The online survey was provided to college students in the Midwest United States. The total valid sample size was 156 individuals. 58.4% (n = 87) of the respondents were male and 41.6% (n = 62) were female. Hierarchical regression analysis was employed to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that social life documenting and community forum participation are the key factors affecting behaviors to use SNSs for travel-related information seeking. It is also observed that interaction to others on the systems significantly increase the use of SNS. Implications and suggestions for future research were discussed