Facebook and the intention of purchasing tourism products: moderating effects of gender, age and marital status

This article proposes a theoretical model of factors that influence the intention to purchase touristic products or services in the context of social media. It contributes to tourism literature by identifying the relationships among disposition to trust, trustworthiness, perceived trust, perceived value and purchase intention of touristic products in this context. We also analyse the moderating effects of age, gender and marital status in the formation of that intention and the potential application of these moderating variables in order to identify more homogeneous groups of users. The model and its hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling, applying the PLS technique. A multi-group analysis was used to identify different relationships depending on population profile. The sample consisted of 848 individuals who normally use Facebook to meet peers, share ideas and collaborate. The results showed that trust in Facebook context positively affected purchase intention and perceived value. Besides, perceived value directly influenced purchase intention. Moderating effects of age, gender and marital status in the formation of purchase intention were also discussed.