Following mega sports events on social media impacts gen z travelers’ sports tourism intentions: the case of the 2022 winter olympic games

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Tourism Recreation Research

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

School

School of Business and Law

RAS ID

64616

Funders

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Comments

Jiang, Y., Lyu, C., Chen, W., & Wen, J. (2023). Following mega sports events on social media impacts gen z travelers’ sports tourism intentions: the case of the 2022 winter olympic games. Tourism Recreation Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2023.2274155

Abstract

Social media engagement theory provides a theoretical perspective for understanding customers’ social media experiences. However, research on how the social media experience related to mega sports events influences the sports tourism behavior of Gen Z travelers is lacking. Sports tourism is defined as traveling away from home for non-commercial purposes in order to attend or take part in sports events. The current research aims to explore how the experience of following mega sports events on social media would affect Gen Z travelers’ sports tourism decision-making. We chose the 2022 Winter Olympic Games as the research context. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 Chinese Gen Z respondents in June and July 2022. The results revealed four overarching themes that explained the impact of the social media experience of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Gen Z consumers’ sports travel intentions: the attractiveness of winter sports, the image of the athletes, the appeal of the event venues, and the content generated by other social media users.

DOI

10.1080/02508281.2023.2274155

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