Applying the Engell–Kollat–Blackwell model in understanding international tourists’ use of social media for travel decision to Ghana

Abstract

The emergence of social media has affected every sector and/or industry. In tourism, social media has become prevalent in tourists’ decision-making to travel to any destination. The main aim of the study was to explore the stages in the decision-making process that social media is more influential on the decision to travel to Ghana. The study adopted the cross-sectional design and was underpinned by the quantitative method of research. The study revealed that tourists use social media for travel planning across all the stages in the decision-making process. However, tourists predominantly use social media at the need awareness and information search stages. Interestingly, the multiple regression analysis revealed that the use of social media at the evaluation and purchase stages positively influenced tourists’ decision to Ghana. In conclusion, social media is influential in tourists’ decision to travel to Ghana. It is recommended that GTA and tourism business should have their businesses visible on these social media platforms to quickly reach tourists who use them