Role of Social Media in consumer Behaviour A Study of Outbound Leisure Travel in India

Abstract

Travellers use social media to share experiences and pictures online, often going great lengths to get the perfect picture to create the perfect image. These pictures and stories act as triggers for others, inspiring them to travel as well, and affecting their other travel choices. In India, the use of internet and SM has been on the rise. At the same time, there has been an upsurge in the number of Indians travelling abroad for leisure. Hence, a need was felt to understand how tourism consumers use, generate and process the information that they source from social media. The current study conducts an in-depth study of the role that social media plays in the overall travel process of Indian outbound leisure travellers. It explores to what extent travellers find social media dependable and trustworthy for their travel decisions. It tries to identify the reasons for which they primarily use SM during the travel process and finally the factors that prompt an individual to use SM for travel. The thesis has been divided into five chapters. Chapter one, Introduction, helps to provide a context for the study while elaborating on the concepts of Travel, Social Media and Consumer Behaviour. Chapter two, Review of Literature, examines related literature. Books, journals and other sources were studied to gain an understanding of the work that has been previously undertaken. Chapter three deals with the methodology that has been adopted for the study. Chapter four covers the analysis and results and the last chapter includes discussion, conclusion and recommendations. The limitations of the study as well as the future scope of the study has also been discussed. newline