The Influence of Sharing Travel Experiences on Happiness - Based on Online Perceived Social Support -

Abstract

People strategically select information and photos to share on various online channels to present themselves (Huang et al., 2018; Kim & Tussyadiah, 2013; Lewis, Pea, & Rosen, 2010). Tourism experiences tend to be more shared on SNS compared to repetitive everyday life since it provides unusual liminal experiences (Wood, 2020). The function of SNS in tourism context is to connect the pre-, on-site, and post-travel stages. Potential travelers create tourism destination expectations from EWOM on SNS (Chang & Wang, 2019; Sedera, Lokuge, Atapattu, & Gretzel, 2017). In addition, travelers recollect travel experiences while sharin their experiences and interacting with SNS friends (Kim & Tussyadiah, 2013). Even though previous researchers examined the relationship between SNS usage and happiness, little research was oonducted to reveal the cuasal relationship between these variables in the tourism sector (Yu, Sirgy, & Bosnjak, 2020). Also, recent studies concentrate on the benefits of expressing the ideal self on SNS. This illustrates the necessity of comparing the effect of two different self-presentation on travelers’ self-esteem and post-travel happiness. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to understand the motivations to share travel experience on SNS and the influence of sharing travel experiences on post-travel happiness.