Pursuing Hedonia or Eudaimonia: The Effect of Travel Experience Sharing on Post-Trip Well-Being

Travel experience sharing contributes to post-trip well-being, but whether and how different sharing types affect different dimensions of well-being is unclear. Applying self-determination theory, this research found that the interaction between social platform types and travel experience sharing resulted in different dimensions of post-trip well-being. The results further revealed two mediating pathways (i.e., personal development and social reputation) behind this matching effect. Specifically, in strong-tie social platforms, desirability (vs. feasibility) sharing induced higher eudaimonia through enhanced personal development, whereas in weak-tie social platforms, feasibility (vs. desirability) sharing induced higher hedonia through enhanced social reputation. This research provides a positive psychological research direction for existing literature on the effects of travel experience sharing. It provides managerial insights for effectively enhancing post-trip well-being.