Social media communication and destination brand equity

Purpose This paper aims to further the knowledge of what effect destination and tourist social media communications have on destination brand equity. Design/methodology/approach The authors performed a quantitative study with 433 international tourists and social media users using an online survey and structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that user-generated content (UGC) and destination-generated content (DGC) both positively affect tourist behavior through the mediating role of destination brand equity. Of the two, UGC is more important for building a positive destination image and more valuable for improving perceived destination quality and value. The results also show that affective image is a powerful predictor of tourist behavior. Practical implications The findings provide useful insights for destination management organizations (DMOs) and social media marketing strategies. DMOs need to generate content that was highly relatable and evokes emotion, and encourage tourists to share their own experiences to improve destination brand equity and future behavior. Originality/value The study was conducted in the passive, pretrip stage before a travel decision is taken, which offers unique insight into how social media communications affect: destination brand equity and users’ decisions to choose certain destinations over others.