From Clicks to Connections: How Social Media Activities Shape Brand Love among Senior Tourists with Ewom as Moderator

Abstract

The rapid growth of the aged demographic globally has significantly influenced the tourism industry, particularly in China, where the challenges of an aging society have rendered senior tourists an increasingly vital market segment. However, despite their growing market potential, limited research has examined how social media activities influence senior tourists’ emotional attachment to brands. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media activities on brand love among senior tourists, employing brand experience as a mediator and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) as a moderator, framed within the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model. A quantitative methodology was utilized with structured questionnaires, and the results were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that social media activities positively influence brand love, whereas brand experience exerts a significant positive impact on brand love. Brand experience serves as a mediator between social media activities and brand love. eWOM significantly strengthens the relationship between brand experience and brand love. This study enriches the current literature by broadening the S-O-R framework in senior tourism, highlighting the impact of social media and eWOM in cultivating emotional brand attachment. Practical implications suggest that tourism brands can enhance brand love among senior tourists by designing engaging social media activities, fostering authentic brand experiences, and encouraging positive eWOM.