The Influence of Social Media Engagement on Positive E-WOM and Customer Loyalty in Agritourism Green Hotels

Author(s)

Faroq Ahmed , Abdulalem Mohammed , Rasheed Abdulwase ,

Download Full PDF Pages: 01-11 | Views: 748 | Downloads: 138 | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4576950

Volume 10 - February 2021 (02)

Abstract

The importance of social media has indeed grown over the last decade in several industries, including hospitality context. A lot of research establishes the role of social media in hotel industry, however, little is known about how social media engagement might relate to electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and customer loyalty in the agritourism green hotels. Therefore, the aim of this study is empirically examines the influence of social media engagement on customer loyalty in the green hotels at Huaihai Economic Zone. It also investigates the mediating impact of positive E-WOM on the relationship between social media and customer loyalty. A survey with 303 respondents was carried out. Convergent and discriminant validities of latent variables were confirmed. The relationships among them were tested using Partial least square Modeling(PLS). The findings reveal that social media engagement and positive eWOM have significant influence on customer loyalty. it also shows that positive eWOM mediates the relationship between social media engagement and customer loyalty. This study advances our understanding of the between social media engagement, eWOM and customer loyalty the agritourism green hotels. Hoteliers can gain benefits by understanding how social media engagement can enhance customers’ eWOM, and thus leads to customer loyalty.

Keywords

Agritourism- Customer loyalty - Green hotel- Huaihai Economic Zone - Positive E-WOM- Social media engagement.

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