GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE TRAVEL DECISION-MAKING PROCESS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN GENERATION X, Y AND Z AS MODERATING VARIABLES

Travel decision-making is a very complex process. The reason why it is complex is that there are several considerations that travelers must make before travelling. Since travelers cannot see the tourism product before the purchase process, they are highly interested in their travel planning and decision-making. Therefore, they need trusted information sources like travel agencies, social media platforms, and social media influencers to provide them with information and help them to make the optimal decision. Travelers have many tendencies and preferences that differ in the travel decision-making process according to their ages. So, the current study aims to understand the major characteristics of generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z and to identify the main factors that influence the travel decision-making process. To achieve the main objective of this study, a quantitative approach was carried out in order to study generational differences in the travel decision-making process. This research has been based on a survey method through distributing a set of questionnaires from 27 September 2021 until mid-December 2021. The proposed model was tested on a sample of 409 participants from different generations (189 from generation Z, 135 from generation Y, and 85 from generation X). As a method of data analysis, this study relied on descriptive statistics in the first axis of the questionnaire to recognize the characteristics and traits of each generation. To test the hypotheses in the current paper, we used partial least squares structural equation modelling to investigate the relationship between independent constructs (travel agencies, social media platforms, and social media influencers) and dependent construct (the travel decision-making process). To analyze the moderating effects, a multi-group analysis has been conducted to test the differences between the generational cohorts. The results have demonstrated that there were significant differences between generational cohorts, especially in the decision-making process. Generation X has leaned on travel agencies in the first rank as an information source, and social media platforms have been coming in the second rank, while the social media influencers factor was not significant. Generation Y has depended on social media platforms at the first rank and social media influencers at the second as trusted information sources, whilst the travel agencies construct was not significant. Whereas generation Z has leaned on Social media influencers as a reliable source. Finally, this study seeks to understand and compare between different tendencies and preferences of generations in order to provide them with suitable information sources to choose the optimal decision.