The 'Insta' effect on the intention to visit a destination: a case for conspicuous consumption?

This study analyzes the influence of expected social return derived from content shared on Instagram on the process of selecting a holiday destination. A research model was tested, entailing the impact of Positive and Negative Attitudes, Subjective Norm, Perceived Control, e-Word-of-Mouth (e-WOM) and Social Return on the intention to visit a destination. The findings showed that e-WOM can evoke both positive and negative attitudes, but these attitudes are not antecedents of destination choice. Instead, expected social return, e-WOM and subjective norm directly influence the intention to visit a destination, thus highlighting the importance of expected positive feedback. This paper expands the theory of planned behavior by reinforcing the importance of e-WOM as an antecedent of positive attitude formation. The paper also introduces expected social return via Instagram within the framework of the theory of conspicuous consumption. As a recommendation, destination and tourism managers should use social media marketing to generate hedonic and aspirational value for tourism destinations' positioning.