Determinants of religious tourists’ social media usage behaviour

ABSTRACTThe phenomenon of religion, as a crucial element of human behaviour, is one of the main motives for travelling. Although religious tourism movements are increasing, the behaviour patterns of religious tourists on various communication platforms such as social media have been mostly neglected. The objective of this study is to examine the antecedents of religious tourists’ intention to share tourism experiences on social media, based on the Technology Acceptance Model. The data were collected from 325 international tourists visiting Vatican City. Findings indicated that user experience level with social media influences perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, which are significant determinants of intention to share tourism experiences on social media. Results also highlighted the negative moderating role of religiosity level on the relationship between these variables. Hereby, the study contributed to the literature by showing that religious tourists represent a heterogeneous market segment having different religiosity levels and social media usage patterns.KEYWORDS: Religious tourismsocial mediatechnology acceptance modelreligiosity leveluser experience levelVatican City Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).