Abstract:
The main objective of the study was to examine the factors that influence attitude towards usage of social media
for holiday destination selection by the young generation, specifically university students and to explore the
antecedents of behavioural intention to use social media sites. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data
for this study, yielding a total of 350 responses suitable for analysis. Regression analysis was employed to test
the hypotheses. The results revealed that social presence, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and
perceived enjoyment all positively influence attitude towards use of social media sites. Revealed by the results
also is that perceived behavioural control, subjective norm and attitude also positively influence behavioural
intention. Social media developers should develop sites, which are attractive, fun and exciting so that the young
generation can be attracted. Moreover, destination marketers must ensure that all the important information is
posted on their social media sites pages. Studies have been conducted on the usage of social media sites for
searching travel related products, but limited research has been done focusing specifically on the usage of these
sites by the young generation, such as university students in the South African context.
