Emerging Media and Technology

Exploring the Relationship between Likelihood to Travel, Perception of the Likelihood of a Crisis Occurring, and Use of Social Media (2012)

Understanding how international travelers perceive the likelihood of a crisis occurring while traveling in the United States is of critical importance to how destinations differentiate themselves from the competition. Furthermore, given the ease of access to the Internet and social media, tourism organizations need to understand tourists’ potential use of social media to seek information about a crisis. This study examined the influence of demographic and travel characteristics of potential international travelers to the U.S. on the likelihood to travel to the U.S., perceptions of the likelihood of a crisis occurring during an upcoming trip to the U.S., and the likelihood of social media use to seek information if a crisis were to occur within their immediate vicinity while traveling. The findings of this research made significant contributions to the tourism industry and have practical implications that can be applied to tourism crisis management plans and practices. The data was part of a study which examined the behaviors and perceptions of international travelers from five countries to the United States. The sample size for this study was approximately 2500. This research was part of Ms. Ashley Schroeder’s Master’s thesis. The project was funded by the Bill Sims Graduate Student Research Grant.