Understanding smart tourist behaviors using the theory of planned behavior: Expanded and expected benefits approaches

Understanding smart tourist behaviors using the theory of planned behavior: Expanded and expected benefits approaches

Smart tourism has globally become a major issue in tourism research, because tourists' behaviors have been reshaped by smart technologies. Even though tourism destinations are increasingly adopting smart technologies for more tourists, understanding how smart tourists behave been compared differently to traditional tourists has been limited. This study develops and tests an integrated structural model by adding the expected benefits to the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model in order to examine the impact of these cognitive appraisals on the smart tourists ’ behavioral intentions. The survey data was collected from 438 Korean participants, and the structural equation model shows that the expected benefits are significantly related to the TPB and have an indirect influence on behavioral intentions. Specifically, sustainability among the expected benefits is the most positive predictor of their attitude, whereas attitude is the strongest determinant of behavioral intentions. Furthermore, this study provides strategies for tourism destination marketers -who must tailor operations for the smart tourists.