Where to next: The role of social media in Greek consumers’ decision-making process regarding traveling plans.

Social media have had a significant impact on individuals’ lives as well as on the way they experience the world around them. They have also made a significant impact on the tourism industry. Indeed, the tourism industry is one of the few industries presented with such important marketing opportunities through social media. Facebook, Twitter and mostly Instagram, which is the focus of this study, have proved to consist of a powerful tool when it comes to traveling. However, focusing on consumers’ aspect due to the over-abundance of information and their skepticism towards marketing campaigns, they tend to seek for reliable information, when looking to decide for their next travel destination. The focus of this study is on Greek consumers’ way of deciding for a travel destination and their perceptions regarding the role of social media in their decision-making process. This paper aims to investigate the sources of information Greek consumers tend to rely on and whether travel-related posts from social media influencers on Instagram have an effect on consumers’ decision process and as a result, proposes the following research question What is the role of social media in Greek consumers’ decision-making process regarding traveling plans, as a focus for analysis. The study is conducted through the prism of the theories of WOM, eWOM, Influencer marketing, the Push and Pull theory, the ELM model and lastly the Uses and Gratification theory to examine the topic and ultimately interpret the results. Moreover, a qualitative approach is chosen through in-depth interviews in order to extract information regarding individuals’ perspective on the researched topic. Thematic analysis in combination with the Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) approach is used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that concerning the sources of information, Greek consumers’ preferable choice is a combination of both WOM and eWOM to gain information for a destination. Regarding the influence of social media influencers first, there is an analysis of the reasons why they tend to follow them. Furthermore, the credibility of influencers is being analyzed in comparison to celebrities revealing their superiority and lastly, influencers’ persuasion using the ELM model reveals the reasons why they tend to be influenced by them when choosing a destination with the emotional factor to dominate.