Exploring the intermediary effects of TikTok on Generation Z’s visit intention

Short video applications, specifically TikTok, have been widely used in the tourism industry to engage audiences during COVID-19 and the post-pandemic era. However, there is limited research on TikTok's influence on domestic tourism recovery post-COVID. Guided by the technology acceptance model (TAM), social cognitive theory, and source credibility model, this study proposes a research model to examine the effectiveness of social media influencer TikTok videos on Generation Z's visit intentions towards domestic tourism destinations in Malaysia. 201 Generation Z Malaysians participated in the self-administered online questionnaire and data were analysed using IBM SPSS and SmartPLS 4.0. The study highlighted the significant mediating effect of self-efficacy in the extended TAM model, indicating the influences of TikTok-related perceptions and SMI credibility in enhancing the audience's self-efficacy to travel to the marketed destination. This study extends existing TAM research on utilising TikTok videos with SMI as a domestic destination marketing tool in the post-COVID-19 era, offering valuable insights to practitioners on harnessing the strengths of TikTok as an effective destination marketing tool and fostering a sense of self-efficacy among tourists, thereby contributing to the sustainable recovery of the industry.