Title of Paper

What Will Motivate You To Travel After COVID-19?: The Effects of Online Social Identity, Social Comparison, and Conspicuous Consumption on Choosing a Tourist Destination

Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Mr. Seung-Jin Cho is a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Mr. Seung-Jin is interested in applying the concept of behavioral economics to the hospitality and tourism industry, and it is his goal to investigate how tourist decision-making is predictably irrational based on heuristics and prospect theory.

Dr. Shintaro Kono is an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. Dr. Kono's research revolves around the relationship between leisure engagement and subjective well-being. He utilizes a wide range of both qualitative (e.g., grounded theory, photo-elicitation) and quantitative (e.g., experiments, structural equation modeling) methods to address the said topics.

Dr. Halpenny is a full professor at the University of Alberta and conducts research in the areas of tourism, marketing, environmental psychology, and protected areas management. Previous to entering full-time employment in academia, Dr. Halpenny worked with an international NGO, The International Ecotourism Society as Research and Workshop Coordinator

Abstract (150 Words)

The purpose of this research was to investigate if online social identity induces social comparisons among social media users and thus influences the decision-making process of choosing a tourist destination from the perspective of conspicuous consumption. This research also examined the possibility of tourists from different ethnic groups (i.e., East Asians and Westerners) being more subject to social comparisons and conspicuous consumption.

The preliminary study showed that Paris, Dubai, and Rome were identified as the most conspicuous destinations. Based on the findings in the main study, online social identity and the emotional outcomes generated by social comparison (i.e., benign envy and hubristic pride) played significant roles in galvanizing people into engaging in conspicuous consumption and intending to visit conspicuous destinations. There was no significant difference in the level of intention to visit conspicuous destinations between East Asians and Westerners.

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What Will Motivate You To Travel After COVID-19?: The Effects of Online Social Identity, Social Comparison, and Conspicuous Consumption on Choosing a Tourist Destination

The purpose of this research was to investigate if online social identity induces social comparisons among social media users and thus influences the decision-making process of choosing a tourist destination from the perspective of conspicuous consumption. This research also examined the possibility of tourists from different ethnic groups (i.e., East Asians and Westerners) being more subject to social comparisons and conspicuous consumption.

The preliminary study showed that Paris, Dubai, and Rome were identified as the most conspicuous destinations. Based on the findings in the main study, online social identity and the emotional outcomes generated by social comparison (i.e., benign envy and hubristic pride) played significant roles in galvanizing people into engaging in conspicuous consumption and intending to visit conspicuous destinations. There was no significant difference in the level of intention to visit conspicuous destinations between East Asians and Westerners.