THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON WINE TOURISTS’ DECISION-MAKING INTENTIONS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY USING THE ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL

Social media shapes travel, particularly wine tourism. Wine travel demands wine expertise, which many Chinese lack. This research surveyed 432 wine visitors in Ningxia, a popular wine tourism destination near Helan Mountain, China, using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). Descriptive statistics assessed model construct validity, whereas Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) tested hypothetical links among theoretical components for reliability. The intervening effects of variables were examined using bootstrapping for mediation analysis. Argument quality substantially affected wine tourists with better wine knowledge’s decision-making intents, driving perceived utility. Tourists with less wine expertise were more impacted by opinion leaders, eWOM, and source credibility, which shaped their emotional decisions. This research extends the ELM model to social media and wine tourism and incorporates additional mediating elements like perceived utility and emotional attitude to bridge the gap between influencing factors and decision-making intents. The report also emphasizes the relevance of social media for wine tourism marketers, advocating strategic usage to improve results.