The Influence of Social Media Viral Content On Tourists’ Visiting Decisions Toward Tourism Destinations in The Digital Tourism Era: A Descriptive Quantitative Approach
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This study investigates the influence of viral social media content on tourists’ visiting decisions in the digital tourism era. The rapid growth of short-form video platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts has transformed tourism promotion by enabling destinations to gain popularity through viral exposure. This research employed a quantitative descriptive approach using a cross-sectional survey method. Data were collected from 278 respondents who were active social media users and had been exposed to tourism-related viral content. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression to examine the effect of viral content dimensions on tourists’ visiting decisions. The results indicate that viral social media content significantly influences tourists’ visiting decisions. Among the tested variables, emotional appeal was found to have the strongest effect, followed by entertainment value, credibility, informativeness, and influencer attractiveness. These findings suggest that emotionally engaging and visually appealing content distributed through credible influencers and user-generated sources can effectively stimulate travel intention and encourage actual visitation behavior. The study highlights the importance of optimizing short-form video marketing strategies and adopting data-driven tourism promotion to enhance destination competitiveness. This research contributes to the literature on digital tourism marketing by providing quantitative evidence of how viral content characteristics shape tourist behavior, particularly in developing country contexts.
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