Social Media Influence on Hotel Purchasing in Macau

Data Analysis: Survey Findings

After surveying travelers who had visited Macau regarding their travel plans, the data was organized graphically to facilitate easier interpretation of results. Consistent with research ethics, all respondents provided informed consent before participating. All 113 participants agreed to take part after the study's purpose was explained to them. Demographically, approximately 60 percent of respondents were male and 40 percent were female. In terms of age, respondents aged 18–19 years made up 7 percent of the total sample; those aged 20–25 years comprised 59.3 percent; 26–30 years accounted for 11.5 percent; 31–40 years for 8 percent; 41–50 years for 4.5 percent; and 51–60 years for 9.7 percent. No respondents were over 60 years of age.

Regarding socioeconomic status, respondents earning less than $5,000 represented 27.4 percent of the sample; those earning $5,001–$10,000 accounted for 15 percent; $10,001–$20,000 for 24.8 percent; $20,001–$30,000 for 15 percent; $30,001–$40,000 for 8.8 percent; and those earning above $40,000 also made up 8.8 percent.

Respondents were also asked how often they had stayed in a hotel in Macau. The largest sub-group responded "sometimes," followed by those who responded "seldom," then "frequently." The smallest sub-groups were those who responded "never" and "always," respectively.

The survey's first question revealed that, when researching travel destinations online, 84 percent of respondents believed that COVID-19 had influenced their travel plans and related decisions about staying in Macau hotels, while the remaining 16 percent did not share this view.

The second question disclosed that, when selecting a destination in the eastern part of the world — encompassing countries such as China, Japan, and Australia — 85 percent of respondents first used social media to gather information, while the remaining 15 percent did not use social media platforms for this purpose.

The third question found that 71 percent of respondents felt that social media had a disproportionate impact on their travel decisions, while 29 percent disagreed.

Responses to the fourth question showed that Instagram was the most frequently used social media platform for influencing hotel purchase decisions while traveling, accounting for 42 percent of respondents. Facebook followed with 40.5 percent, with smaller portions attributable to Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other platforms.

The fifth question revealed that 88.5 percent of respondents agreed that the direct experiences of others had influenced their decision to stay at a particular travel destination, while 11.5 percent were not influenced in this way.

The sixth question asked respondents to identify the most important elements in making a travel purchase decision. Options included price, value, location, activities, online reviews, facilities, safety, and a combination of multiple factors. Price was the most highly rated element, selected by 78.8 percent of respondents. Value came second, with 51.3 percent in agreement. Location, activities, and online reviews followed in that order, while facilities, safety, and the multiple-option response received the lowest votes.

Consumer Decision-Making and Theoretical Framework

The seventh question asked respondents to identify information sources other than social media used when deciding on a travel destination. Responses included personal reputation, friends' and family feedback, magazines, official websites, travel books, newspapers, television programs, the season, the destination's image, personal feelings about a place, word of mouth, and YouTube videos, vlogs, and blogs.

The eighth question found that the timing of social media posts greatly influenced travelers' purchasing decisions: 91.2 percent of respondents agreed with this, while 8.8 percent did not.

The ninth question asked respondents to rate social media's influence on their purchasing decision on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the least influential and 10 the most. Among respondents, 26.5 percent gave a rating of 8; 17.7 percent gave a rating of 9; 16.8 percent gave a rating of 10; 17.7 percent gave a rating of 7; 11.5 percent rated it at 6; and the remainder rated it at 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1, respectively.

The tenth and final question asked respondents for their perceptions of Macau as a travel destination. Their responses covered a wide range of themes, including gambling and casinos, local attractions, good viewpoints, small-scale settings, a sense of success, the blending of Western and Chinese culture, entertainment and leisure, festivals and food, cultural diversity, world heritage, and Macau's reputation as a renowned international travel destination.

ZMOT Phenomenon

The consumer decision-making process is complex and demands time and energy on the part of the consumer. It is undertaken to maximize the accuracy of a final purchase decision while minimizing risk — both in terms of time and finances (William-Iivarinen, 2017). Digital platforms have become particularly useful for enabling faster and more accurate decisions. The time, energy, and attention required for online research depend on the decision goals associated with a specific product or service. Situational factors are also significant: the amount of time and willingness a buyer is prepared to invest will vary. Attention levels fluctuate during this process, as some consumers may be unwilling to spend extended periods browsing social media or websites. Time pressure introduces an additional variable, as a buyer facing a deadline may conduct less thorough research, omit potentially relevant information, and increase the likelihood of making an irrational purchase decision.

While formulating the questionnaire, three concepts and theories were used to shape the research questions. Questions 1, 6, 7, and 10 were framed using the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) framework. Questions 2, 4, 8, and 9 were articulated using the Theory of Social Impact. Questions 3 and 5 were formulated using the herding effect. The selection of these theories helped address the research question and informed the choice of research method. The articulation of the research question and the identification of factors to be examined were grounded in the foundations provided by these theories, with final results generalized by detecting various aspects of each theory and observing how they function within the phenomena studied.

The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) is considered a significant phenomenon for explaining how customers make informed decisions (Bicer, 2020, p. 156; Ertemel and Peyk, 2018, p. 124; Wolny and Charoensuksai, 2014). With easy access to social media platforms, it has become convenient for buyers to first consult existing customers' comments and feedback about a product or service before reaching a final decision (Ertemel and Basci, 2015, p. 526). The exponential growth of user-generated data has become a credible source of purchase information and has created a deterrent to impulse buying. In marketing terms, there is a specific moment of truth when a brand's offers, quality parameters, and points of interest align with the buyer's expectations.

The traditional model of the mental decision-making process consists of a stimulus, followed by the first moment of truth — which, according to Procter & Gamble, comprises the first seven seconds in which a buyer makes a decision about a product — and concludes with the second moment of truth, which encompasses the actual experience (Ertemel and Basci, 2015, p. 528). Impulse buying, it should be noted, is the urgent urge created upon seeing a product, while stimuli can be generated through advertising (Ertemel, 2017, p. 465). However, as digital technology has become integral to daily life, digitally empowered consumers increasingly engage in a systematic, research-based buying process. This has modified the traditional model into a new mental model of decision-making: the ZMOT stage is now inserted immediately after the stimulus phase, with the remaining stages following as before.

For certain generational cohorts — Generation X, Y, and Z — the use of social media differs, as does the intergenerational response to social media advertising (Roth-Cohen, Rosenberg, and Lissitsa, 2021, p. 3; Hysa, Karasek, and Zdonek, 2021, p. 12). Since Generation Y has had greater exposure to digital technology and is more familiar with social media platforms than older individuals from Generation X, they are more comfortable conducting online research before making purchases (Martinelli, 2021, p. 22). Research has indicated that 35 percent of Millennials (Generation Y) would research a product in-store, compared to 15 percent of Baby Boomers (Generation Z) who would do the same. Similarly, Millennials rely heavily on word of mouth up to 82 percent of the time, while Baby Boomers make purchases after receiving word-of-mouth feedback only 52 percent of the time for the same item (Martinelli, 2021, p. 22). Research also suggests that different geographical regions affect these percentages. The global pandemic, which negatively impacted in-store sales, further accelerated the shift to online research across all generations.

For these reasons, travelers visiting Macau were reliant on the ZMOT phenomenon, which several survey questions were designed to explore. The aim was to trace the customer's journey in gathering information about their destination and arriving at a purchasing decision. Philip Kotler has identified five stages of the customer journey: becoming aware, developing an appeal for the product, asking about the brand or product, acting after evaluation, and advocating for the final purchase decision (Martinelli, 2021, p. 23). Applied to Macau hotel guests, this implies that respondents progressed through all five stages. Taking question 1 as an example — in which COVID-19 influenced their decision to stay in Macau while researching online — respondents would have first been aware of the destination; developed an interest in staying there; sought and evaluated options from credible online sources; taken time to act on their chosen option; and finally advocated for the destination, potentially becoming loyal and repeat visitors (Gu et al., 2021, p. 2263; Jamunadevi et al., 2021, p. 8).

A further dimension is that customers experiencing the ZMOT phenomenon gather information about a product online and develop perspectives that they later share with others (Martinelli, 2021, p. 28). In question 6, for instance, respondents identified elements that informed their travel purchase decision. These elements — such as price, value, and facilities — would likely reappear in their post-stay feedback and ratings, after experiencing the hotel's services firsthand (Bucko, Kakalejcik, and Ferencova, 2018, p. 7).