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Many travellers use online travel communities, OTCs, in social media to obtain information about places, events and people of their travel destination. They believe that using these communities they can obtain the latest and most useful information to aid their travel planning.

Dissertation research examines the factors that motivate consumers to participate in these communities. This includes the antecedents of customer engagement and continuous participation, particularly in the tourism, travel and hospitality services.

The findings indicate that different antecedents influence consumers’ interests in online travel communities.

“Offline activities are critical to creating mechanisms in OTCs. Specifically, while hedonic value and social value were positively related to offline activities, support was not found for functional value. Second, customers who perceive functional value, hedonic value and social value in OTCs will engage in positive word of mouth” says postdoctoral researcher Dandison Ukpabi from Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics.

Moreover, those who visit the platform frequently will recommend it to others. However, those who spend a longer time on it will not recommend it for its entertainment features. Source credibility is critical in driving customer motives and engagement

Attractive destinations generally receive positive reviews. Destination managers should, as a matter of urgency, begin to migrate towards smart tourism destinations. This starts with the provision of free Wi-Fi at the destination.

“Notably, cities like Moscow, New York, Hong Kong and Barcelona, are already offering free Wi-Fi, which has set the bar for other cities. Different business types, such as hotels, restaurants, parks, attractions and event venues, stand to radically transform their services as a result of the interconnected smart tourism destination ecosystem” says Ukpabi.

It is on record that mobile data is cheaper in Finland, and Finnish networks transfer the most mobile data in the world per customer. This has laid a solid foundation for smart tourism destinations across cities in Finland.

“A core benefit of a smart tourism destination is that the tourist enjoys personalised services, which increase value-co-creation at the destination and provide greater opportunities for businesses due to more innovative business models. Moreover, consumers’ unlimited access to the Internet at such destinations will greatly enhance their sharing of positive experiences, which will in turn positively influence the destination’s image”, says Ukpabi.

M.Sc. Dandison Ukpabi defends his doctoral dissertation in Marketing "Exploring consumer motivations, engagement and customer value in online brand communities: A perspective from tourism, travel and hospitality" August 7 in Lea Pulkkisen sali at 12:00. Opponent PhD, Docent Maria Antikainen (VTT) and Custos Professor Heikki Karjaluoto (Ģ��ֱ��).