tiểu luận the influence of tiktok on the touristdestination choice of young foreigntourists in da nang

These videos stimulate their desire, making them ready to visitdestinations Du et al., 2020.Previous studies have been conducted to discuss the impact of TikTok ondestination development

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS – THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANGINTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Course: Research Mothodology

Students: Nguyen Quynh Quyen

Instructor: PhD Bui Huynh Nguyen

DA NANG - June, 2023

1

2 Promoting destinations with TikTok 6

3 Tourist destination choice and its driving factors 6

IV RESEARCH METHOD 7

LIST OF FIGUREFigure V.1: The research process 8

Tourism has become one of the important factors in promoting the economicgrowth of a country This has also been mentioned by Shang et al (2021) that tourismis a sector with great potential for development and enhancement to contribute togrowth and development of the economy As a young and dynamic city, Da Nang isblending into the common integration trend of both the country and the world Withsmooth and sandy beaches running across the coast, Da Nang beach was voted byForbes (U.S.) to be one of the most beautiful and affordable cities for foreigners in2019 Da Nang truly has one of the world's ideal ecological advantages and potentialsfor a world-class tourist destination With these advantages, tourism is becoming animportant economic sector of Da Nang.

Along with the increasing competition in the tourism industry, social media hasbecome one of the marketing strategies that receives much attention and is also animportant source to collect tourism information (Tobias-Mamina et al., 2020) The roleof social media in tourism decision-making has been explored in tourism research,including studies on the impact of electronic word-of-mouth (Chen et al., 2015) anduser-generated content (UGC) (Oliveira & Casais, 2019) and the influence of socialmedia on hotel bookings (Varkaris & Neuhofer, 2017) Compared to other social mediaplatforms, tourism inspired by TikTok is currently a hot topic as TikTok is expandingwidely At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, with the outbreak of theCovid19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown order, it seems that social media isone of the only ways for people to feel connected to friends and family (Pachucki etal., 2022) Then, people, especially young people, flocked to new social mediaplatforms like TikTok (Unni & Weinstein, 2021) TikTok, a short video app,immediately became a "top stream" during the pandemic According to TikTok userstatistics from Brian (2022), it had a 1157.76% increase in its user growth rate betweenJan 2018 and July 2020 Since its launch in September 2016, TikTok has quicklybecome the most popular short video platform.

A meeting organized by Byte Dance revealed that the most liked short videos onTikTok are about tourism 68% of users are following travel influencers, 80% of users

Research Proposal_Nguyen Quynh Quyen

even have no travel plans but still like to watch travel content and like to collect thosecontents 90% of users believe that collecting and watching travel content will havegreat reference value (Byte Dance meeting, 2021) These data show us a relativelypositive result about people's intention to travel and show that topics related to tourismare being discussed fervently on TikTok through watching, creating and sharing videosabout short trips These videos stimulate their desire, making them ready to visitdestinations (Du et al., 2020).

Previous studies have been conducted to discuss the impact of TikTok ondestination development (Wengel et al., 2022), the impact of travel vloggers on shortvideo sharing (Zhao et al., 2022), the impact of short videos on customer attitudestowards destination brands (Cao et al., 2021), and the impact of foodvlogs on destination image (Li et al., 2020) Most of these studies focus on the impactof short video content on destinations and tourists; only a few discuss TikTok inrelation to destinations or user behavior (Wang et al., 2022) Especially in Vietnam,there are only a few studies on factors influencing tourists' destination choices, suchas Travel vlog (K, Tran et al., 2022) or EWOM (T, L, Tran et al., 2023; S, D, Hoang etal., 2022), but no study has focused on a specific platform like TikTok Before TikTokappeared, other popular apps like Instagram and YouTube had short video servicesworldwide However, TikTok has had an unprecedented impact on the tourismindustry, demonstrating the need to consider the platform's unique characteristics Thishas prompted me to experiment with using TikTok by tourists in the decision-makingprocess and the factors influencing their choices In addition, TikTok's main users areyoung people like Millennials and GenZ, so their attitudes towards TikTok are worthstudying Young people also often plan their family trips and may plan their own tripsin the coming years Therefore, my research focuses on the pre-travel stage (i.e., theconsideration stage in the customer journey) to clarify the mechanism of influencebetween using TikTok and the destination choice behavior of young foreign tourists.The results of this study contribute to both theory and practice They enrich theliterature on the emerging topic of TikTok-related tourism The insights gained will beuseful for destination managers and marketers in social media and digital marketing.

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II RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS1Research objectives:

This study aims to explore which factors of TikTok can influencethe destination choice of young foreign tourists in Da Nang Based on the findings, itprovides recommendations for destination managers and marketers in social mediaand digital marketing to promote tourism in the region.

III LITERATURE REVIEW

1TikTok on tourism

TikTok, known as Douyin (抖 音 ) in China, is a platform for creating,discovering, and sharing short videos launched in 2016, with over 600 million users asof August 2020 and has become a global phenomenon social media app (Li, 2021).Pollack (2021) states that TikTok has become an interesting marketing channel for thetourism industry, as travel is one of the most popular topics on this platform Forexample, 10 destinations such as Dubai, Japan, Seoul, and Thailand are active underthe hashtag #tiktoktravel In difficult times like the present, TikTok offers anopportunity to create a platform and provide suggestions for future trips for youngtravelers However, until now, very few brands have used TikTok as a marketingplatform This is an advantage for newcomers, as this platform is not yet flooded withmarketing content and therefore is an unexplored terrain According to research bySnow (2021), TikTok could be a new travel agent, and tourists can receive a lot ofuseful advice from TikTokers' travel posts.

2 Promoting destinations with TikTok

According to Du et al (2020), TikTok now plays a significant role in shapingdestination images, changing tourist behavior, and influencing tourist perceptions.Opinions and suggestions gathered through social media, especially videoreviews of travel experiences, are becoming increasingly important in the decision-making process for holiday destinations (Wengel et al., 2022) Moreover, TikTok alsohas a unique recommendation algorithm that not only helps videos spread quickly (Duet al., 2020) but also allows them to expand into new topics they may be interested in(Zhang & Liu, 2021) This has made TikTok the second most downloaded Androidapp worldwide (Rimadias et al., 2021) and one of the reliable social media referencesources for finding travel destinations Furthermore, according to Simpleview (2021),the average interaction rate of TikTok is 29%, much higher than Facebook andInstagram with an average interaction rate of 3%-5% Therefore, TikTok has greatpotential to be considered a destination marketing tool in the future.

3Tourist destination choice and its driving factors

According to Zhang et al (2022), brand trust can be extended to social mediabrand trust The authors argued that trust in a brand on social media can influencepeople's purchasing intentions for both material and non-material products When atrusted relationship between a brand on social media and its users is established, it caninfluence people's actions and decisions, such as destination choices Similarly, whenpeople trust TikTok, it may influence their "purchasing intentions," which translates totravel intentions and destination choices.

Pop et al (2021) suggest that social media influencers can influence consumerdesires and perceptions of travel destinations When people trust a social mediainfluencer, their opinions are easily influenced, affecting their intentions and decisions.In Pop et al.'s (2021) study, once followers trust 13 influencers, they accept theirproposals and advertised products without hesitation, and trust has a positiverelationship with purchase intentions.

In Chenchen et al.'s (2020) study, different marketing methods can affecttourists' image perceptions and subsequently affect their travel decisions, and

interactive marketing methods are the most influential, which can be short videos andlive streaming The authors also found that different types of videos have differentlevels of impact on tourists' travel intentions The five popular video types in order ofinfluence on tourists' travel intentions are City Architecture, Local Specialties, NaturalScenery, Experiences, and History.

Moreover, the intention to travel is also influenced by tourists' risk perceptionand their sense of safety, as risk factors can make them apprehensive about what mighthappen to them during the trip (Wachyuni & Kusumaningrum (2020); Reisinger &Mavondo (2005)) Once tourists feel that their safety will be "at risk" when traveling,they develop negative perceptions of the tourist destination Risk perception can beconsidered an intermediary variable between other variables and the tourist destinationchoice Information from various types of videos or influencers on TikTok can helptourists perceive the risks and subsequently influence their destination decision.However, a prerequisite is that people have trust in TikTok Only when they trustTikTok will they believe the information on TikTok Therefore, trust in TikTok is alsorelated to risk perception.

Based on the above, the following four variables have been selected asimportant factors related to the choice of tourist destination because they influence thedecision: Trust in TikTok, Travel influencers on TikTok, Types of videos on TikTok,and Risk perception.

IV RESEARCH METHOD1Research design

The research process was conducted in three stages:

Stage 1: Research problems investigation

I synthesized previous research and literature from scientific journals, domesticand international research works related to research topics to identify research gaps,construct a proposed research model, form hypotheses, and determine scales.

Stage 2: Pilot study

After constructing the measurement scales based on the literature, I will put theobserved variables into a draft questionnaire in the form of a 5-point Likert scaleranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree) The questionnaire willthen be sent to 20 acquaintances for evaluation and feedback to ensure that there willbe no misunderstandings about the language and content of each question Afterreceiving feedback and suggestions, the research team will revise and develop theofficial questionnaire.

Stage 3: Quantitative research

Quantitative research will be conducted on young foreign tourists through a survey using a questionnaire The research hypothesis is tested by using the SPSS 23.0and SmartPLS 3.2.9 software Based on the results, the research team will propose recommendations.

Figure IV.1: The research process

2Data Collection

Sampling method

Non-probability sampling would be the best option for the needs of thereport Convenience sampling and purposive sampling are the two samplingtechniques used The questionnaire was provided in English, conducted both onlineand in-person For the online method, I will upload the survey form as a GoogleForm on travel forums and groups to collect responses from foreign tourists in DaNang For the offline method, I will distribute the survey to young foreign tourists inpopular tourist areas in Da Nang city, such as coastal areas, hotels and restaurantsserving foreign tourists, tourist attractions and entertainment venues, as well asshopping centers

Sample size

According to the Da Nang City Tourism Department, in the first quarter of2023, the estimated number of international tourists visiting Da Nang is 391,600.Therefore, the population for this study is 391,600.

According to Yamane (1967), the formula for calculating the sample size basedon the population size is:

among others This will help me collect more fair results, allowing the researchers tohave a general description of the sample characteristics.

Then, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) will be performed using SPSS 23.0software to study the major variables that affect tourists' destination choices (eachmajor variable will include similar minor variables) Cronbach's alpha will be used totest the reliability of the observed variables of the mother factor.

Moreover, the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM)with the bootstrapping technique will be chosen to estimate the relationship betweenthe variables from the SmartPLS 3.2.9 software.

V TIMESCALE AND RESOURCES

Develop a measurement scale and questionnaire 3 weeks

Complete the research report (Research findings +

Discussion + Limitations of the study and future research) 4 weeks

Table V.1: Timescale2Resources

The estimated cost to complete this project is 500,000 VND It includes thefollowing expenses:

Data retrieval: Purchasing academic articles from paid sources, paid accounts toaccess academic journals

Transportation costs for members to complete the research project

Support fees for accessing data and analytical equipment

Printing documents (including direct survey questionnaires)

Supporting equipmentComputer, phone, printer

REFERENCES:

1 Brian, D (2022, January 5) TikTok User Statistics (2022) BLACKLINKO.https://backlinko.com/tiktok-users

2 Cao, X., Qu, Z., Liu, Y., Hu, J (2021) How the destination short video affects the

customers’ attitude: The role of narrative transportation Journal of Retailing and

Consumer Services, 62 (2021), Article 102672, 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102672

3 Chen, C.-H., Nguyen, B., Klaus, P “Phil”, & Wu, M.-S (2015) ExploringElectronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) in The Consumer Purchase Decision-MakingProcess: The Case of Online Holidays – Evidence from United Kingdom (UK)

Consumers Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 32(8), 953–970.