Social Media Envy: How Experience Sharing on Social Networking Sites Drives Millennials’ Aspirational Tourism Consumption

Abstract

The sharing of travel experiences has become ubiquitous in today’s era. This study focuses on a pervasive trend among Millennial consumers: the experience of benign envy toward others’ positive travel experience sharing on social networking sites. Drawing on social comparison theory, the current study reveals why and under what conditions others’ positive experience sharing may trigger Millennial consumers’ destination visit intention. Using a mixed experimental design, this study finds that, among consumers with low trait self-esteem, luxury travel experiences shared by similar others stimulate focal consumers’ own intentions to visit the same destination. In addition, destination visit intention is triggered by benign envy toward the experience sharer. Important theoretical insights are provided regarding peer influence mechanism on social networking sites and travel consumption. Finally, managerial implications for destination marketers are presented with a focus on how to improve the effectiveness of social media marketing in targeting Millennials.

Keywords

travel experience sharing social media social networking sites social comparison benign envy Millennials

Introduction

Picture this: it is a busy day at work, and you have just finished an intense business meeting. You sit down to take a quick break and pull out your smartphone to check your favorite social media page. At the very top of your feed stands your colleague’s update about his current vacation. It is clear from his breathtaking photos that he is very much enjoying his fancy trip. How would you feel at this moment? Would you experience a sense of envy? Would such a post tempt you to have the same destination experience? Meanwhile, if the same post were published by an acquaintance you barely knew, would you feel differently?

As illustrated in this example, travel experience sharing on social media is widespread. Thanks to the proliferation of Internet technology, tourists are able to share travel-related information, personal experiences, and opinions via text comments, photographs, and videos on social media during or after a trip (Kang and Schuett 2013; Xiang and Gretzel 2010). As a form of electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), shared travel experiences on social media play an important role in shaping tourists’ awareness, expectations, perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors (Buttle 1998; Narangajavana Kaosiri et al. 2017). Recent research shows that over 20 percent of American travelers’ destination decisions were influenced by their friends’ and relatives’ posts on social networking sites (SNSs), such as Facebook and Instagram, and nearly one quarter of investigated American Millennials were inspired by such posts when choosing travel destinations (U.S. Travel Association 2016). Peer-to-peer communication on social media is particularly influential for Millennial travelers (i.e., those born between 1981 and 1999; Bolton et al. 2013). With an estimated total population of two billion (Sillman, Peterson, and Rickert 2016), the Millennial generation has risen to prominence as one of the most important customer segments in the global tourism industry. Known as the “Net generation” (Tapscott 1997), Millennial consumers are technologically savvy (Nowak, Thach, and Olsen 2006) and tend to rely on social media for information searching and decision-making (Bolton et al. 2013; Price 2016). Multiple news sources have reported that Millennial consumers are more prone than other groups to social comparison and are more likely to feel envy when exposed to peers’ social media posts (e.g., Elejalde-Ruiz 2015; Khanna 2016). Such reactions substantiate the power of peer influence on Millennials’ travel consumption behavior.

Yet how travel experience sharing on SNSs influences consumers’ travel-related decision-making, especially Millennial consumers’, remains underexplored in tourism research. To date, one line of study has examined the impact of social media e-WOM on travelers’ attitudes and decision-making, with theoretical foci on the elaboration likelihood model, dual process theory, social influence theory, source credibility, and attribution theory (Filieri and McLeay 2014; Filieri 2015, 2016; Filieri, Alguezaui, and McLeay 2015; Ayeh, Au, and Law 2013a, 2013b). However, much of this line of work has focused on online review websites such as TripAdvisor, largely leaving aside peer-to-peer communication on SNSs such as Facebook. Although considerable research has revealed the importance of social media marketing for Millennials (Bilgihan, Okumus, and Cobanoglu 2013; Leask, Fyall, and Barron 2014; Parsa and Cobanoglu 2011), little work has been done to examine how Millennial consumers respond to others’ travel experiences shared on SNSs such as Facebook. Travel posts on SNSs can easily trigger social comparisons among peers, as the very nature of such platforms invites individuals to disclose positive self-information, such as having enjoyed a fantastic vacation (Vogel et al. 2014; Zuo 2014; Lim and Yang 2015). The current research thus addresses this underexamined peer influence mechanism behind travel experience sharing on SNSs.

To bridge these gaps in the literature, the present study seeks to examine the psychological mechanism underlying how Millennial consumers’ destination visit intention is influenced by their peers’ travel experience sharing on SNSs utilizing the social comparison theory. This study attempts to make the following contributions. First, this study helps to advance knowledge about e-WOM by testing the influence of travel experience sharing on SNSs through the lens of social comparison theory. Second, in contributing to e-WOM research, the current study reveals the role of benign envy in stimulating aspirational consumption in the social comparison processes. Third, by examining the joint impact of experience luxuriousness, self–other similarity, and the focal consumer’s trait self-esteem, the current study demonstrates the boundary conditions in which the social comparison mechanism will drive destination visit intention. Last but not least, the current research provides an in-depth understanding of the peer influence mechanism among Millennials on social media, which represents one of the most promising market segments of the global tourism industry.

Literature Review

Social Comparison Theory: Emotional and Behavioral Consequences

Social comparison theory provides the theoretical foundation for this study. This theory suggests that people have an intrinsic need to compare themselves with others for the purpose of self-evaluation (Festinger 1954). In order to obtain a more accurate self-evaluation, individuals are more likely to compare themselves to others who are similar to themselves in certain aspects, such as age and gender (Wood 1989). Depending on the comparison target’s status, individuals may engage in either upward social comparison, when the comparison target is believed to be superior to oneself, or downward social comparison, when the comparison target is believed to be inferior to oneself (Wood 1989). Upward social comparison provides information about one’s relative limitations, which could be both inspiring and threatening (Wood 1989). Potential negative effects of upward social comparison include negative affect, like envy (Buunk et al. 1990), diminished self-evaluation (Aspinwall and Taylor 1993), decreased subjective well-being (Wheeler and Miyake 1992), and even depression (Strohmer, Biggs, and McIntyre 1984). According to the self-evaluation maintenance model, when people feel threatened in upward social comparison, they are motivated to maintain or improve a positive sense of self (Tesser 1988). Consequently, upward social comparison could drive aspirational consumption behaviors (i.e., consumption driven by aspirations to keep up with the upper class, such as via status consumption) (Gupta and Srivastav 2016; Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011) due to self-enhancement motivations (Mandel et al. 2017; Sivanathan and Pettit 2010).

This study focuses on travel experience sharing on SNSs, which is particularly relevant to upward social comparison. This is presumably because SNSs provide a platform for self-presentation where users tend to publicize positive aspects of themselves to convey superiority among peers (Vogel et al. 2014; Lim and Yang 2015). Positive travel experiences shared on SNSs often carry symbolic meanings beyond the trips themselves, such as professional achievements, wealth and status, impressive traits and skills, and happiness in one’s personal life (Kerr, Lewis, and Burgess 2012). Such positive symbolic meanings are associated with superiority and may therefore stimulate upward social comparisons, which could inspire a focal consumer’s travel desire as a result of self-evaluation maintenance. Among the audience, this comparison process is likely to elicit feelings of benign envy, a positive emotion that reflects one’s desire for others’ superior fortune and is triggered by upward social comparison (Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2009). Benign envy is associated with the behavioral tendency of self-enhancement, such as aspirational consumption and working harder to keep up with others (Belk 2011; Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2009). As a result, positive travel experiences shared on SNSs may trigger focal consumers’ visit intention toward a given destination.

Antecedents to Upward Social Comparison

Although positive experience sharing on SNSs is likely to induce upward social comparison, the activation of social comparison requires certain antecedents. According to previous research, several antecedents have been implicated in the upward social comparison process: superiority of the comparison target, degree of similarity between the focal individual and the comparison target, and the focal individual’s trait self-esteem (Collins 1996; Gibbons and Buunk 1999; Wood 1989). Superiority is a necessary component of upward social comparison (Wood 1989). In travel consumption contexts, luxury travel experiences imply superiority, as such consumption signals high social status (Kastanakis and Balabanis 2014; Yang and Mattila 2017). Thus, upward social comparison is more likely to be evoked by the sharing of luxury travel experiences compared with non-luxury ones. Superiority of a similar other is even more likely to elicit upward social comparison because a similar other is more personally relevant than a dissimilar other (Wood 1989). Moreover, upward social comparison is more likely to influence individuals with low self-esteem who need social references to validate their sense of self (Crocker and Park 2004). Consequently, the present study focuses on the joint impact of three factors on focal consumers’ responses to shared travel experiences on SNSs: (1) the luxuriousness of shared travel experiences; (2) similarity between the experience sharer and the focal consumer; and (3) the focal consumer’s trait self-esteem.

The Luxuriousness of Shared Travel Experiences

Growing affluence worldwide has been accompanied by a shift toward luxury consumption, from material possessions to experiential services (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie 2006). Nonetheless, there is no concrete definition of luxury goods or services. Among the various definitions of luxury, scholars generally agree that it is subjective, dynamic, and relative; that is, it depends on consumers’ perceptions (Wiedmann, Hennigs, and Siebels 2009; Tynan, McKechnie, and Chhuon 2010; Vigneron and Johnson 2004; Brun and Castelli 2013). Specifically, luxury goods or services are defined based on perceptions of limited supply, high monetary value, superior quality, extra pleasure, and symbols of personal and social identity (Tynan, McKechnie, and Chhuon 2010; Vigneron and Johnson 2004). It has been widely recognized that luxury consumption is associated with symbolic meanings, including display of status and wealth, signaling of the self, and indulgence (Vigneron and Johnson 2004; Wiedmann, Hennigs, and Siebels 2009). Therefore, publicly displaying luxury consumption elicits a sense of superiority over one’s peers and thus induces an upward social comparison process. Studies have reported that exposure to luxury lifestyles portrayed on TV and social media could lead to upward social comparison and negative self-evaluation among viewers (Yang 2005; De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders 2017).

Based on these definitions of luxury goods and services, a luxury travel experience can be defined as a travel experience that is not commonly accessible, relatively expensive, offers superior service quality, provides extra pleasure, and can be considered a symbol of personal or social identity. As such, a destination featuring luxury travel experiences and hospitality services can be considered a luxury destination. Nia and Zaichkowsky (2000) suggested that psychological benefits (i.e., hedonic value and symbolic meanings) are the primary distinction between luxury and non-luxury products. However, in the context of travel consumption, both luxury and non-luxury travel can provide such psychological benefits. Therefore, the difference between them mainly exists in the degree of various aspects defining luxury. In other words, compared to non-luxury travel, a luxury travel experience appears to be more exclusive, less affordable, and indicative of higher status, higher quality, and greater hedonic value; hence, it signals a stronger sense of superiority and uniqueness among luxury consumers’ peers. Consequently, publicizing luxury travel experiences and mentioning a luxury destination (compared to non-luxury travel) on SNSs is more likely to induce an upward social comparison process, which further stimulates one’s desire to enjoy a similar travel experience and to visit the same destination.

Focal Consumers’ Trait Self-Esteem

Self-esteem refers to people’s overall self-evaluation or attitude toward themselves (James 1980). The construct can be further divided into trait self-esteem, which remains relatively stable over time, and state self-esteem, which varies across situations (Rubin and Hewstone 1998). Research has shown that individuals’ tendency to engage in social comparison is negatively related to their level of trait self-esteem (Gibbons and Buunk 1999). Specifically, individuals with low trait self-esteem are more likely to engage in social comparisons than those with high trait self-esteem (Gibbons and Buunk 1999). There are several key theoretical explanations for why social comparison is more prevalent among individuals with low self-esteem. First, these people tend to be uncertain about themselves and therefore derive self-awareness and evaluation from comparing themselves to others (Gibbons and Buunk 1999). Second, individuals with low self-esteem tend to enhance their self-evaluation by maintaining connections with others and seeking acceptance through social comparisons (Brown, Collins, and Schmidt 1988; Crocker and Park 2004). These two reasons help explain why low self-esteem consumers are more likely to be influenced by their peers (Cohen 1959; Nisbett and Gordon 1967). Third, they often have a greater need for protecting self-esteem than their high trait self-esteem counterparts, so people with low self-esteem are more motivated to maintain and improve their self-esteem through social comparisons (Crocker and Canevello 2012; Tice 1993).

Furthermore, research has indicated that when faced with ego-deflating upward social comparison, individuals with low trait self-esteem have a greater need to inflate their self-evaluation and enhance their self-esteem than their high self-esteem counterparts (Brown et al. 1992). To this end, people with low self-esteem are motivated to engage in aspirational consumption behaviors as a type of compensatory consumption, which refers to consumption behaviors undertaken to counteract an undesired psychological condition resulting from lack of self-esteem or self-fulfillment (Gronmon 1988). Empirical studies have found that consumers with low self-esteem are more willing to purchase high-status or luxury goods (Sivanathan and Pettit 2010; Truong and McColl 2011). Therefore, it is plausible that when a peer posts a luxury travel experience on SNSs, the upward social comparison mechanism is more likely to be activated, and aspirational consumption is more likely to be inspired, for a low trait self-esteem audience compared to those with high trait self-esteem.

The Boundary Factor of Self–Other Similarity

Similarity between oneself and the comparison target is an important boundary factor for upward social comparison. According to Festinger (1954), individuals prefer to compare themselves to others who are similar to them in certain aspects in order to obtain a more accurate self-evaluation. The similarity between self and other is judged based on attributes related to the focal ability being compared, such as gender, age, and social class (Gastorf and Suls 1978; Miller 1982). Self–other similarity signals comparability, and similar others are considered more personally relevant, such that a meaningful social comparison can be initiated (Stapel and Marx 2007; Suls, Martin, and Wheeler 2002; Wood 1989). Therefore, comparing oneself with similar (vs. dissimilar) others may have a greater impact on focal individuals, and upward social comparison with a similar other is more likely to trigger a threatening effect on one’s self-evaluation (Wood 1989). For example, studies have reported that people feel more resentful when similar others own something they do not (Crosby 1976), and individuals’ self-esteem is more likely to be threatened when they receive help from similar others (Fisher, Nadler, and Whitcher-Alagna 1982).

Furthermore, literature suggests that self–other similarity is particularly relevant to the assimilation effect resulting from upward social comparison, which refers to a process by which upward social comparison inspires individuals to obtain the same status or achievements as the comparison targets (Suls, Martin, and Wheeler 2002). Similarity to a superior comparison target could lead individuals who initiate the comparison to conclude that they, too, are superior and are able to achieve the same status (Suls, Martin, and Wheeler 2002; Collins 1996). Therefore, upward social comparison with similar others is more likely to result in aspirational consumption behaviors to identify with the comparison targets whose superior attributes are perceived as attainable (Suls, Martin, and Wheeler 2002). On the contrary, the comparison target’s superior attributes may be ascribed to perceived differences when comparing oneself with a dissimilar other, rendering upward social comparison less effective (Wood 1989). In addition, research suggests that when faced with ego-deflating upward social comparison, individuals with low trait self-esteem are more likely than their high self-esteem counterparts to inflate their self-evaluation through the assimilation effect when the comparison target is a similar other (Brown et al. 1992).

In line with the above reasoning, when a similar other posts a luxury travel experience on SNSs, an upward social comparison is more likely to be activated and aspirational consumption (i.e., destination visit intention) is more likely to be inspired among focal individuals who have lower trait self-esteem. However, when the focal consumer possesses high self-esteem and is more immune to the threatening effects of upward social comparison, the luxuriousness of shared travel experience will not influence his or her destination visit intention. On the contrary, if the travel experience is shared by a dissimilar other, lack of self-relevance will impede the social comparison process, and the interaction effect of experience luxuriousness and trait self-esteem on destination visit intention will be attenuated. Therefore, the first hypothesis is proposed as:

Hypothesis 1: When a travel experience is shared by a similar other on SNSs, Millennial consumers with low self-esteem will exhibit higher levels of visit intention when the destination mentioned represents a luxury (vs. non-luxury) travel experience.

Benign Envy: Demonstration of the Upward Social Comparison Mechanism

As a social emotion, envy captures feelings of inferiority resulting from upward social comparison (Van de Ven 2016; Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2009), and has been commonly experienced among social media users (Wallace, James, and Warkentin 2017; Lim and Yang 2015; Krasnova et al. 2015). Literature has suggested that envy can be further differentiated by its corresponding action tendencies: when associated with the desire to have what others possess, envy is benign in nature (i.e., benign envy); when accompanied by the wish for others to lose a comparative advantage, envy is malicious (i.e., malicious envy) (Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2009). Compared with the latter, which invokes extreme emotional experiences such as hostility and resentment, benign envy is more positive and productive in everyday life. Just as Wood (1989) suggested, upward social comparison can be both threatening and inspiring, which corresponds to these two types of envy. Given that upward social comparison is a necessary condition for benign envy (Van de Ven 2016; Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2009), the antecedents of upward social comparison also apply to benign envy. Therefore, benign envy may be more likely to be elicited when the comparison target has superiority in self-relevant domains, is similar to oneself, and when the focal individual has lower self-esteem (Lin and Utz 2015; Krasnova et al. 2015).

Previous research has shown that benign envy often goes hand in hand with a positive attitude toward the comparison target and a desire to mimic the target’s superior qualities, achievements, or possessions through hard work or aspirational consumption (Van de Ven 2016). For example, Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters (2011a) found that individuals who experienced benign envy were willing to pay more for a desirable product owned by the envied friend. Another study by Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters (2011b) revealed that students who experienced benign envy intended to work harder in the upcoming semester and performed better on subsequent intelligence and creativity tests. In an organizational context, Sterling, Van de Ven, and Smith (2016) found that employees’ benign envy is positively correlated to their work efforts. In the context of the present study, benign envy toward the experience sharer is expected to trigger one’s intention to visit the same destination.

In sum, upward social comparison is a necessary condition for benign envy, and benign envy may lead to aspirational consumption behaviors. Benign envy can therefore be put forth as a mediator in the current study to demonstrate the proposed theoretical process of upward social comparison. Specifically, benign envy is more likely to be triggered when a luxury travel experience is shared by a similar other among low self-esteem focal individuals, while when a luxury travel experience is shared by a dissimilar other, benign envy is less likely to be triggered. Further, destination visit intention is driven by the focal consumer’s experience of benign envy toward the experience sharer following the upward social comparison. Therefore, the second hypothesis is proposed as follows:

Hypothesis 2: The impact of luxuriousness of a shared travel experience on destination visit intention is conditionally mediated by benign envy. Specifically, when a travel experience is shared by a similar other on SNSs, benign envy mediates the effect of luxuriousness of the shared travel experience on low self-esteem consumers’ destination visit intention.

The conceptual framework of this study is depicted in Figure 1. As pictured, this research proposes a three-way interaction effect among the luxuriousness of shared travel experience, similarity between the experience sharer and the focal consumer, and the focal consumer’s trait self-esteem on his or her destination visit intention. Specifically, the interaction effect of experience luxuriousness and trait self-esteem on destination visit intention depends on self–other similarity (specified in hypothesis 1). The effect of experience luxuriousness on focal consumers’ destination visit intention is conditionally mediated by focal consumers’ benign envy, which represents the mechanism of upward social comparison (specified in hypothesis 2).

Figure 1.

Conceptual framework of this study.

Methods

Design and Stimuli

A 2 (positive travel experience: luxury vs. non-luxury) × 2 (trait self-esteem: high vs. low) × 2 (similarity of experience sharer: similar other vs. dissimilar other) mixed-design experiment was conducted. Similarity and travel experience type were manipulated between subjects, and trait self-esteem was measured within subjects. Participants were recruited from U.S. Millennial consumers who were active social media users, and all were randomly assigned into one of the four manipulated conditions.

Stimuli were shown to participants through the hypothetical scenario presented in the opening of this paper. They were asked to imagine they are busy at work, striving to meet several deadlines. When checking their social media page in between meetings, the participants find that one of their social media friends recently posted about a vacation accompanied by text and pictures. Depending on participants’ experimental group assignments, the social media friend was either a similar or dissimilar other, and the vacation experience was at either a luxurious or non-luxurious destination.

A social media travel post was used to manipulate the luxuriousness of shared travel experience, which was comprised of three components: destination names (in the form of location description), pictures, and texts. First, to select appropriate destinations that represent luxury and non-luxury travel experiences, a pilot test was conducted with 75 U.S. adult consumers. In it, respondents were asked to list three luxury leisure travel destinations and three non-luxury leisure travel destinations within the United States. Results showed that Hawaii and Florida were listed as the top luxury and non-luxury destinations, respectively. To ensure both destinations were comparable in the present study, Miami, Florida, was chosen because it is similar in size to Hawaii (6,137 vs. 6,423 mi²). More importantly, Miami was perceived by study participants as being similar in tourism resources to Hawaii (M = 4.6; measured on a 7-point Likert-type scale by the item “To what extent do you think Hawaii and Miami are similar in fulfilling tourists’ vacation needs?”). Moreover, Miami was considered to be more affordable than Hawaii (M_Hawaii = 5.63, M_Miami = 5.17, t = 3.64, p < 0.001; as measured by the item “What is your impression of Hawaii/Miami?” on a 7-point bipolar scale where 1 = “very inexpensive” and 7 = “very expensive”). Second, pictures depicting similar tourism attractions and facilities in the selected destinations were used to represent luxury and non-luxury travel experiences. In order to highlight the exclusivity feature of a luxury travel experience (Yang, Zhang, and Mattila 2016; Yang and Mattila 2014), solitude views were used in the Hawaii pictures (luxury condition), and a beach with high tourist density was presented in the Miami pictures (non-luxury condition). Third, textual descriptions matching the pictures were used to further reinforce the differences between a luxury and non-luxury travel experience. Words like fabulous, fantastic, and upscale were used in the luxury condition, while words like nice, good, and delicious were used in the non-luxury condition (see Appendix for the stimuli).

The manipulation of similarity was adapted from Chan and Sengupta’s (2013) study. The “similar other” SNS friend was depicted as a colleague who works in the same department and job role and is of the same gender and a similar age as the participant. The “dissimilar other” SNS friend was depicted as an acquaintance met during a trip who is around 50 years old, of the opposite gender, lives in a distant city, and works in a completely different profession compared to the participant (see Appendix for details of the stimuli for similarity).

Measurement

Participants’ trait self-esteem was measured using a 10-item scale adopted from Rosenberg (1965). Sample items include “On the whole, I am satisfied with myself” and “I feel that I have a number of good qualities” (Cronbach’s α = 0.94). Participants’ intention to visit the destination was measured by a three-item scale adapted from Hsu and Crotts (2006): “Viewing A’s post makes me intend to visit the destination in the near future”; “Viewing A’s post makes me have the desire to visit the destination in the near future”; and “I would take this destination into consideration when planning for my future holidays” (Cronbach’s α = 0.92). Participants’ benign envy was measured using a four-item scale adapted from Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters (2009). Because malicious envy and benign envy are differentiated by activated thoughts or action tendencies, existing studies tend to use behavioral expressions as measurement (Lange and Crusius 2015; Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2009). For example, previous research has measured benign envy through items such as “I tried harder to achieve my goals” and “I complimented the other for his or her success” (Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2009). Similarly, this study adapted measurement items from previous research to measure benign envy. Sample items include “I will work hard to get similar travel opportunities in the future” and “I would like to compliment (via ‘thumbs-up like’ or comment) A’s post” (Cronbach’s α = 0.79). All constructs were measured on a 7-point Likert scale.

Participants

The study initially recruited a total of 377 U.S.-based Millennial adult consumers on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online data collection platform. Millennial adult consumers were defined as those born between 1981 and 1999 (i.e., 18–36 years old) (Bolton et al. 2013). In order to be eligible for this study, participants need to satisfy four criteria: (1) born between 1981 and 1999; (2) currently employed; (3) use social media on a regular basis; and (4) do not reside in Hawaii or Florida (as these were the travel destinations displayed in the stimuli). In addition, three questions were used to assess participants’ attention and information recall, and 74 responses were omitted because of failure to correctly answer the attention check questions. Consequently, the final sample size was 303.

In terms of participant demographics, all participants were between 18 and 36 years old, and nearly half of the respondents were between 25 and 30 years old (46%). Regarding gender, there were slightly more male respondents (54%) than female (46%). Most respondents earned an annual household income between $50,000 and $74,999 (31%), and 62% held a bachelor’s degree or higher. Overall, this study’s sample is representative of U.S. Millennial consumers, who are becoming more affluent and are generally well educated according to recent market reports on their characteristics (Nielsen 2015; Futurecast 2015).

Results

Manipulation and Realism Checks

The first manipulation check question asked participants to state how luxurious they considered the destination mentioned in the social media travel post to be. Participants assigned to the luxury destination condition rated the travel experience as significantly more luxurious than those assigned to the non-luxury destination condition (M_Luxury = 6.01, M_Non-luxury = 5.19; t(301) = 6.44, p < 0.001). The second manipulation check question asked about participants’ perceived similarity to the social media friend in the scenario. Results indicated that participants assigned to the “similar other” group perceived the hypothetical social media friend to be significantly more similar compared to those in the “dissimilar other” condition (M_Similar = 5.50, M_Dissimilar = 3.44; t(301) = 11.27, p < 0.001). In addition, the scenario’s realism was evaluated using two questions on a 7-point Likert-type scale: “The situation described in the scenario was very realistic” and “How easy was it for you to understand what happened in the scenario?” The hypothetical scenario was found to be realistic (M = 5.82) and easy to understand (M = 6.45).

Results of Moderation Test

Hypothesis 1 states that there is a three-way interaction effect among travel experience luxuriousness, participants’ trait self-esteem, and self–other similarity on destination visit intention. Model 3 in Hayes’s (2013) PROCESS procedure, which is suitable for analyzing moderation effects among dichotomous and continuous variables (Spiller et al. 2013), was used to test the first hypothesis. PROCESS is an add-on package for SPSS that allows for statistical mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis based on ordinary least squares or logistic regression (Hayes 2016).

Results suggested a significant main effect for similarity on participants’ visit intention (b = −2.66, p < 0.01). In addition, a significant luxuriousness by similarity interaction effect and self-esteem by similarity interaction effect was found on participants’ visit intention (b_LxS = 2.87, p = 0.03; b_ExS = 0.46, p = 0.01). Consistent with hypothesis 1, a significant three-way interaction effect was found among the three predictors on destination visit intention at a 95% significance level ( b= −0.5, p = 0.04) (see Table 1 for detailed regression results).

Table 1.

Impact of Luxuriousness, Similarity, and Trait Self-Esteem on Participants’ Visit Intention.^a

	Coefficient	SE	t	p Value	95% CI
Luxury	0.56	1.03	0.55	0.58	−1.46	2.58
Esteem	0.06	0.11	0.51	0.61	−0.17	0.28
Similar	−2.66	0.91	−2.89	0.00	−4.47	−0.85
Luxury × Esteem	0.05	0.18	0.27	0.78	−0.31	0.41
Luxury × Similar	2.87	1.32	2.17	0.03	0.27	5.47
Esteem × Similar	0.46	0.16	2.80	0.01	0.14	0.78
Luxury × Esteem × Similar	−0.50	0.23	−2.11	0.04	−0.97	−0.03

Model summary: R² = 0.16; F_(7,295) = 8.11.

To better understand the significant three-way interaction effect, two simple slope tests were conducted for the similar other condition and dissimilar other condition, respectively. These results are presented in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 2a, when the social media friend was a similar other, there was a significant interaction effect between trait self-esteem and luxuriousness on destination visit intention (b = −0.45, t = −3.05, p = 0.003). Specifically, when participants had low trait self-esteem (–1 SD), they tended to have a significantly higher visit intention to the luxury destination versus the non-luxury destination (M_Luxury = 5.45, M_Non-luxury = 3.85, b = 1.63, p < 0.001). For participants with a high level of trait self-esteem (+1 SD), there was no significant luxury-based difference in destination visit intention (M_Luxury = 5.62, M_Non-luxury = 5.20, b = 0.43, p = 0.11). However, when the social media friend was a dissimilar other (as shown in Figure 2b), no significant self-esteem by luxuriousness interaction effect was found in predicting destination visit intention. Instead, only a significant main effect of luxuriousness was found. These results lend support to hypothesis 1.

Figure 2.

Simple slope tests for visit intention.

Results of Moderated Mediation Test

Hypothesis 2 predicts that the effect of travel experience luxuriousness on destination visit intention is conditionally mediated by benign envy. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted to test hypothesis 2 in line with Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes’s (2007) model. Model 12 in Hayes’s (2013) PROCESS procedure was used to conduct the moderated mediation analysis, with luxuriousness as the independent variable, trait self-esteem and similarity as moderators, benign envy as a mediator, and destination visit intention as the outcome variable. A bias-corrected bootstrapping technique based on 10,000 bootstrap samples was used to test the conditional indirect effect.

As shown in Figure 3, the conditional indirect effect of luxuriousness on participants’ intention to visit the destination due to benign envy was significant only when the luxury travel experience was shared by a similar other among participants with low self-esteem (b = 0.69, 95% boot CI: 0.32, 1.08). The effect was nonsignificant for participants with high self-esteem and when the SNS friend was a dissimilar other. This result supports the hypothesized conditional indirect effect via benign envy, which further confirms the theoretical prediction of social comparison as an underlying mechanism. Hence, hypothesis 2 is supported.

Figure 3.

Mediation path.

Conclusions and Discussion

Conclusions

The goal of this study was to examine the impact of positive travel experience sharing on SNSs on Millennial consumers’ destination visit intention from a social comparison perspective. Specifically, the authors tested the impact of three factors, namely, luxuriousness of travel experience, similarity between the experience sharer and the focal consumer, and the focal consumer’s trait self-esteem, on the focal individual’s visit intention to the destination mentioned in the social media post. Benign envy was incorporated as a mediator representing the social comparison mechanism. The proposed research model was tested among Millennial consumers using a mixed experimental design approach. Key findings and implications are discussed below.

First, a significant three-way interaction effect was found among the three antecedents of upward social comparison on destination visit intention. Specifically, when the positive travel experience was shared by a social media friend who was perceived as being similar to oneself, participants with lower trait self-esteem tended to show a higher visit intention to the destination offering a luxury travel experience versus a non-luxury travel experience. This indicates that an upward social comparison was elicited among a low self-esteem audience when a luxury travel experience was shared by a similar other, a result consistent with previous research that found similarity to be an important condition of social comparison (Collins 1996). Additionally, individuals with low self-esteem are indeed more likely than others to engage in social comparison (Gibbons and Buunk 1999) and more susceptible to peer influence (Cohen 1959; Nisbett and Gordon 1967).

This study’s results regarding aspirational consumption were consistent with the assimilation effect found in previous studies (Brown et al. 1992; Häfner 2004; Mussweiler, Rüter, and Epstude 2004). The assimilation effect occurs when upward social comparison leads to the motivation to improve oneself, inspired by the belief that the focal consumer can obtain the same status or achievements as the comparison target (Suls, Martin, and Wheeler 2002). Aspirational consumption is one way to achieve that end. However, this behavioral tendency occurs only when the comparison target is a similar other such that the focal individual believes he or she has the ability to acquire the same status or achievements. This provides further empirical support for the notion that social comparison with similar others may lead to affiliation and pressure for uniformity in groups, reflecting the social implications of social comparison in shaping the interpersonal relations (Wood 1989). In addition, aspirational behavioral tendencies are more likely to occur when the focal individual has low trait self-esteem, as he or she has a greater need to enhance self-esteem compared to individuals with higher self-esteem (Brown et al. 1992). This finding echoes previous literature in that individuals with low trait self-esteem are more likely than others to engage in status consumption or luxury consumption (Sivanathan and Pettit 2010; Truong and McColl 2011).

Second, a significant conditional indirect effect was found between luxuriousness of shared travel experience and destination visit intention (b = 0.69) through the mediation of benign envy when the experience sharer is a similar other and when participants have low trait self-esteem. The significant mediating effect of benign envy reinforces the existence of upward social comparison as an underlying mechanism of the impact of positive travel experience sharing, as upward social comparison is a necessary condition for eliciting benign envy. This result substantiates the positive impact of benign envy on consumption (Belk 2011) and corroborates Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters’s (2011a) finding that benign envy compels consumers to pay a premium for desired products owned by the envied target. Our finding is also consistent with that of Crusius and Mussweiler (2012), who found that benign envy evoked by upward social comparison leads to an impulsive tendency to strive for others’ superior goods. The economic function of benign envy in stimulating consumption can be attributed to the psychology of compensation (Karanika and Hogg 2016). That is, consumption may be used as a coping strategy (i.e., compensatory consumption) when self-esteem is threatened as a result of upward social comparison.

Theoretical Implications

Theoretically, this study makes several important contributions to the literature.

First, this study provides an alternative explanation for the impact of e-WOM on social media. Previous studies on social media e-WOM have been predominantly driven by theories including the elaboration likelihood model (Filieri and McLeay 2014; P. Gupta and Harris 2010), dual process theory (Filieri 2015), social influence theory (Park and Lee 2009; Huang and Chen 2006), source credibility theory (Ayeh, Au, and Law 2013a; Filieri 2016), and attribution theory (Lee and Youn 2009). Meanwhile, social comparison theory has drawn comparatively less attention. This study suggests that social comparison theory is especially suitable for studying e-WOM on SNSs, where upward social comparisons occur frequently among social media users because these sites provide a platform for self-presentation featuring superiority (Vogel et al. 2014). This theory enhances understanding, from a new perspective, of how personal travel experience sharing and peer influence on SNSs may affect focal consumers’ aspirational consumption behaviors.

Second, this study sheds light on how e-WOM valence influences focal consumers’ attitudes and behaviors. Previous studies have extensively examined the impact of e-WOM valence in online review contexts (Purnawirawan et al. 2015). However, mixed findings have been reported. Some studies found that review valence has a positive impact on recommendation intention and purchase intention, as positive reviews help shape positive attitudes toward the reviewed object (Sparks and Browning 2011; Phillips et al. 2017; Purnawirawan et al. 2015), whereas other studies indicated that positive reviews may have a negative impact on review credibility and helpfulness, and hence a negative impact on e-WOM adoption (Lee and Koo 2012; Papathanassis and Knolle 2011; Filieri 2016). These findings are not surprising as the influence of WOM valence is “rather complex, and may depend on specific conditions” (Pan and Zhang 2011, p. 599). The present study introduces a new perspective on studying the complex influence of e-WOM valence through the lens of social comparison theory. In this study, focus was put on the role of positive experience sharing on SNSs, which triggers upward social comparison. However, depending on its valence, e-WOM on social media could trigger either upward or downward social comparisons, and the social comparison theory would presumably help explain how consumers would react to the upward or downward comparison stimuli.

Third, this study contributes to the destination visit intention literature by exploring the impact of travel experience sharing on SNSs. Although it has been widely acknowledged that travelers today rely increasingly on user-generated content for travel information searching and travel planning (Ayeh, Au, and Law 2013b; Xiang and Gretzel 2010), the ways in which user-generated content on SNSs could stimulate focal consumers’ destination visit intention have been under-researched. The few relevant studies have focused either on the role of destination image constructed by SNSs (Lim, Chung, and Weaver 2012) or the impact of various characteristics of user-generated content on SNSs (Chen, Shang, and Li 2014). The present study examines the role of peer influence on destination visit intention by utilizing a new theoretical perspective, social comparison theory, to study the impact of user-generated content on SNSs.

Fourth, three factors were identified related to the effectiveness of e-WOM on SNSs based on the social comparison mechanism. The three factors are luxuriousness of the shared experience, similarity between the experience sharer and the focal consumer, and the focal consumer’s trait self-esteem. Specifically, aspirational consumption behavior (i.e., desire to visit the destination mentioned in others’ travel post) was found to be most likely to occur among a low self-esteem audience when the shared experience was luxurious and when the experience sharer was a similar other. Extant literature has suggested similarity as an important condition of upward social comparison and the upward assimilation effect (e.g., Collins 1996; Suls, Martin, and Wheeler 2002), whereas the role of trait self-esteem remains unclear. The current study contributes to the understanding and clarification of trait self-esteem in upward social comparison. In particular, this study provides empirical evidence for the argument that people with low self-esteem are more likely than others not only to engage in social comparison, but also to be inspired to improve themselves via upward social comparison (Brown et al. 1992; Gibbons and Buunk 1999).

Last but not least, this study is one of the first to investigate the role of benign envy in a tourism consumption context. Although benign envy may be a common emotion to experience during travel or when exposed to others’ travel experiences, the role of envy on tourists’ experiences and decision-making has rarely been studied. In a broader academic research context, this study is also one of the first to focus specifically on the behavioral impact of benign envy. Most previous studies addressed the malicious and negative aspects of envy, while its positive and benign aspects have only recently begun to warrant more attention (e.g., Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2009, 2011a, 2011b). This study thus adds to literature on the role of benign envy in driving compensatory consumption. Meanwhile, the boundary conditions eliciting benign envy were identified by establishing relationships among the three antecedents, benign envy, and the outcome variable. The role of superiority and similarity in evoking benign envy has been well established in previous studies (Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, and Pieters 2011b), but this study makes a particular contribution to understanding benign envy in terms of the focal individual’s trait self-esteem. More specifically, it was found that benign envy is more likely to be induced among people with low self-esteem.

Practical Implications

This study yields an in-depth understanding of one of the most promising market segments of the global tourism industry: Millennials. Hence, the findings of this study provide important practical implications related to social media marketing for the industry as well as destinations targeting Millennials.

First, the study’s findings may be particularly relevant for the Millennial segment, as social media is one of the most effective ways to reach Millennial consumers (Tourism Northern Ireland Board 2013). Raised in a media-saturated era, Millennials are more likely than previous generations to rely on peers’ WOM rather than commercial advertisements when making purchase decisions (Peterson 2004). Peer influence on social media has been recognized as the most powerful tool for tourism marketers to utilize to reach out to this particular consumer segment (Tourism Northern Ireland Board 2013). Considering the unique characteristics of Millennials—they prefer experiences over material possessions (Morgan 2015) and value authenticity, creativity, and uniqueness (Nielsen 2014)—tourism marketers could highlight authentic, creative, and unique experiences in social media marketing activities to provoke benign envy and aspirational consumption among Millennial consumers. For instance, in 2016 the Los Angeles Tourism Bureau launched a new tourism marketing campaign, “Get Lost in LA,” specifically targeting Millennial travelers. Unlike previous campaigns geared toward older generations, the new campaign focused on local neighborhood experiences, such as local food, natural street views, and hidden gems, over iconic LA attractions (Skift 2016). To further connect with Millennials, two lifestyle influencers on Instagram (a popular photo-sharing social media platform) were invited to appear in the campaign video, and social media engagement was encouraged across major social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest (Hughes 2016).

Second, this study highlights the influence of peer-to-peer communication on SNSs for Millennial consumers. Hence, destination marketing organizations should not only maintain a social media presence but also enhance social media engagement by encouraging travelers to share their experiences. This is especially true for luxurious destinations, for which the travel experiences could evoke benign envy and inspire others’ destination visit intention. One example would be Hawaii. In 2015, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau ran a marketing campaign on Instagram in which it encouraged residents and visitors to share their Hawaii-based travel experiences with friends and relatives by posting travel images with the hashtag “#letHawaiiHappen.” This successful campaign generated nearly 100,000 Instagram posts in a year, and more than two-thirds of people who saw this campaign indicated a willingness to visit Hawaii over the next two years (Mediakix 2016).

Third, this study reveals conditional requirements for benign envy and aspirational consumption behaviors: luxuriousness of shared travel experience, similarity between the focal consumer and experience sharer, and focal consumers’ self-esteem. Specifically, when an experience sharer is perceived to be similar to oneself, peers’ sharing of luxury destination experiences on SNSs will likely inspire destination visit intention among people with low self-esteem. As such, destination marketing practitioners should encourage travelers to engage in targeted rather than generic experience sharing, that is, sharing travel experiences with friends who are similar to oneself. One strategy would be to integrate customer review sites and SNSs. A number of online review sites, such as TripAdvisor and Yelp, have been practicing channel integration: they now provide users the option to connect their review pages with their Facebook accounts (Holliday 2009; Dailymail 2012). In this way, consumers can see their SNS friends’ travel experience sharing and related comments, and benign envy and aspirational consumption will be further inspired.

In addition, this study’s findings are more applicable to a particular group of travelers: those with low self-esteem. A recent global investigation by Dove found that about half the women surveyed had low self-esteem (Dove 2016), indicating that the low self-esteem segment is a potentially large yet underexplored market. Consumers’ self-esteem should be taken into consideration with regard to social media marketing activities given that consumers with low self-esteem are more likely to be influenced by peers on SNSs and are more likely to engage in status or luxury travel consumption, as suggested by the results of this and previous studies (Sivanathan and Pettit 2010; Truong and McColl 2011). Moreover, people with low self-esteem generally constitute the social media lurker group, referring to those who read and observe but are reluctant to generate content on social media (Liu and Baumeister 2016; Williams, Heiser, and Chinn 2012). Traditionally, given their lack of participation in content generation, lurkers are one of the most overlooked groups on social media. Yet the present research suggests that this group may be particularly prone to peer influences on social media and thus deserves more attention from marketing practitioners.

Limitations and Future Research

This study is not without limitations. First, focusing on Millennial participants who were active social media users and currently employed may limit the generalizability of the findings; however, these parameters did provide the researchers more control over the experimental design, thus minimizing the influence of confounding factors. It remains unclear whether the study’s findings are applicable to other populations, and future studies should evaluate a larger sample with diverse demographics. It would be particularly helpful to compare the impact of upward social comparison among different generational cohorts. Second, respondents’ idiosyncratic characteristics, such as personal preferences for beach destinations or busy/solitude destination experiences, may have affected the study results. Although these idiosyncratic effects can be minimized via randomization procedures in experimental research (Kirk 1982), future research may aim to measure and control for these idiosyncrasies. Third, malicious and benign envy are two sides of the same coin, but this study addressed only factors eliciting the latter. Future research could examine what factors may lead to the two different action tendencies of envy in a tourism consumption context.

In addition, this study calls for researchers’ attention to the concept of luxury destinations. Luxury tourism consumption represents an important segment in the tourism industry, while previous research on luxury travel has focused mainly on luxury hospitality venues such as luxury hotels or resorts (Cordato 2008; Yang and Mattila 2017). The concept of luxury destinations may provide a more holistic understanding of the luxury travel experience, which examines tourists’ overall perceptions about a destination including but not limited to hospitality services. Last but not least, comparison targets’ socioeconomic status plays a critical role in social comparison. Research suggests that individuals are more likely to follow a socially superior group’s consumption behavior in order to improve their own social standing. Relatedly, individuals are less likely to follow a socially inferior group’s consumption behavior in an effort to dissociate with the undesired group (Yang and Mattila 2014; Yang, Zhang, and Mattila 2016). Hence, experience sharers’ socioeconomic status could make a difference in the audience’s destination visit intention, and it would be potentially meaningful to incorporate this factor into future research on travel experience sharing on SNSs.

Supplemental Material

Online_Appendix – Supplemental material for Social Media Envy: How Experience Sharing on Social Networking Sites Drives Millennials’ Aspirational Tourism Consumption

Supplemental material, Online_Appendix for Social Media Envy: How Experience Sharing on Social Networking Sites Drives Millennials’ Aspirational Tourism Consumption by Hongbo Liu, Laurie Wu and Xiang (Robert) Li in Journal of Travel Research

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Young Scholars Interdisciplinary Forum, Fox School of Business at Temple University. In addition, the authors would like to express their sincere gratitude for the editor and anonymous reviewers’ constructive feedback and suggestions to help improve the manuscript.

The third author would also like to acknowledge support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant #71471011).

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the 12th Young Scholars Interdisciplinary Forum, Fox School of Business, Temple University, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant #71471011).

Supplementary material for this article is available online.

Author Biographies

Hongbo Liu is a PhD candidate at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management and Fox School of Business, Temple University. Her research focuses on social media marketing and cross-cultural cosnumer behavior in tourism and hospitality.

Laurie Wu, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University. Her research focuses on service marketing and consumer behavior.

Xiang (Robert) Li, PhD, is a professor at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University. His research focuses on destination marketing and tourist behavior.

References

Aspinwall

L. G.

Taylor

S. E.

1993. “Effects of Social Comparison Direction, Threat, and Self-Esteem on Affect, Self-Evaluation, and Expected Success.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64 (5): 708–22.

Ayeh

J. K.

Law

2013a. “‘Do We Believe in TripAdvisor?’ Examining Credibility Perceptions and Online Travelers’ Attitude toward Using User-Generated Content.” Journal of Travel Research 52 (4): 437–52.

Ayeh

J. K.

Law

2013b. “Predicting the Intention to Use Consumer-Generated Media for Travel Planning.” Tourism Management 35:132–43.

Belk

2011. “Benign Envy.” Academy of Marketing Science Review 1 (3): 117–34.

Bilgihan

Okumus

Cobanoglu

2013. “Generation Y Travelers’ Commitment to Online Social Network Websites.” Tourism Management 35:13–22.

Bolton

R. N.

Parasuraman

Hoefnagels

Migchels

Kabadayi

Gruber

Loureiro

Y. K.

Solnet

2013. “Understanding Generation Y and Their Use of Social Media: A Review and Research Agenda.” Journal of Service Management 24 (3): 245–67.

Brown

J. D.

Collins

R. L.

Schmidt

G. W.

1988. “Self-Esteem and Direct versus Indirect Forms of Self-Enhancement.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55 (3): 445–53.

Brown

J. D.

Novick

N. J.

Lord

K. A.

Richards

J. M.

1992. “When Gulliver Travels: Social Context, Psychological Closeness, and Self-Appraisals.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 62 (5): 717–27.

Brun

Castelli

2013. “The Nature of Luxury: A Consumer Perspective.” International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 41 (11/12): 823–47.

10.

Buttle

F. A.

1998. “Word of Mouth: Understanding and Managing Referral Marketing.” Journal of Strategic Marketing 6 (3): 241–54.

11.

Buunk

Collins

Taylor

VanYperen

Dakof

1990. “The Affective Consequences of Social Comparison: Either Direction Has Its Ups and Downs.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 59 (6): 1238–49.

12.

Chan

Sengupta

2013. “Observing Flattery: A Social Comparison Perspective.” Journal of Consumer Research 40 (4): 740–58.

13.

Chen

Y.-C.

Shang

R.-A.

M.-J.

2014. “The Effects of Perceived Relevance of Travel Blogs’ Content on the Behavioral Intention to Visit a Tourist Destination.” Computers in Human Behavior 30:787–99.

14.

Cohen

1959. “Some Implications of Self-Esteem for Social Influence.” In Personality and Persuasibility, edited by Hovland

C. I.

Janis

I. L.

New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

15.

Collins

R. L.

1996. “For Better or Worse: The Impact of Upward Social Comparison on Self-Evaluations.” Psychological Bulletin 119 (1): 51–69.

16.

Cordato

2008. “Luxury Holidays—Is Luxury a Standard, Actionable at Law.” International Travel Law Journal (3): 107–13.

17.

Crocker

Canevello

2012. “Self and Identity Dynamics of Persons and Their Situations.” In The Oxford Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology, edited by Deaux

Snyder

, 263–86. New York: Oxford University Press.

18.

Crocker

Park

L. E.

2004. “The Costly Pursuit of Self-Esteem.” Psychological Bulletin 130 (3): 392–414.

19.

Crosby

1976. “A Model of Egoistical Relative Deprivation.” Psychological Review 83 (2): 85–113.

20.

Crusius

Mussweiler

2012. “When People Want What Others Have: The Impulsive Side of Envious Desire.” Emotion 12 (1): 142–53.

21.

Dailymail. 2012. “TripAdvisor Links to Facebook to Show Reviews from Your Friends . . . and Their Friends Too.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2128713/TripAdvisor-links-Facebook-reviews-friends.html (accessed May 26, 2017).

22.

De Veirman

Cauberghe

Hudders

2017. “How Exposure to Peers’ Portrayal of Luxury Lifestyles on Social Media Hurts the Self.” 16th ICORIA Annual Conference, Ghent, Belgium.

23.

Dove. 2016. “New Dove Research Finds Beauty Pressures up, and Women and Girls Calling for Change.” http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-dove-research-finds-beauty-pressures-up-and-women-and-girls-calling-for-change-583743391.html (accessed August 28, 2017).

24.

Elejalde-Ruiz

2015. “Millennial Workers Well-Dressed, Prone to Jealousy.” The Detroit News. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/personal-finance/2015/05/17/millennial-workers-dressed-prone-jealousy/27503285/ (accessed May 5, 2017).

25.

Festinger

1954. “A Theory of Social Comparison Processes.” Human Relations 7 (2): 117–40.

26.

Filieri

2015. “What Makes Online Reviews Helpful? A Diagnosticity-Adoption Framework to Explain Informational and Normative Influences in e-WOM.” Journal of Business Research 68 (6): 1261–70.

27.

Filieri

2016. “What Makes an Online Consumer Review Trustworthy?” Annals of Tourism Research 58:46–64.

28.

Filieri

Alguezaui

McLeay

2015. “Why Do Travelers Trust TripAdvisor? Antecedents of Trust towards Consumer-Generated Media and Its Influence on Recommendation Adoption and Word of Mouth.” Tourism Management 51:174–85.

29.

Filieri

McLeay

2014. “e-WOM and Accommodation: An Analysis of the Factors That Influence Travelers’ Adoption of Information from Online Reviews.” Journal of Travel Research 53 (1): 44–57.

30.

Fisher

J. D.

Nadler

Whitcher-Alagna

1982. “Recipient Reactions to Aid.” Psychological Bulletin 91 (1): 27–54.

31.

Futurecast. 2015. “Money Matters: How Affluent Millennials Are Living the Millennial Dream.” https://recsports.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Futurecast_AffluentReport_FINAL.pdf (accessed May 5, 2017).

32.

Gastorf

J. W.

Suls

1978. “Performance Evaluation Via Social Comparison: Performance Similarity Versus Related-Attribute Similarity.” Social Psychology 41 (4): 297–305.

33.

Gibbons

F. X.

Buunk

B. P.

1999. “Individual Differences in Social Comparison: Development of a Scale of Social Comparison Orientation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76 (1): 129–42.

34.

Gronmon

1988. “Compensatory Consumer Behavior: Elements of a Critical Sociology of Consumption.” In The Sociology of Consumption, edited by Otnes

, 65–85. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International.

35.

Gupta

Harris

2010. “How e-WOM Recommendations Influence Product Consideration and Quality of Choice: A Motivation to Process Information Perspective.” Journal of Business Research 63 (9): 1041–9.

36.

Gupta

Srivastav

2016. “An Exploratory Investigation of Aspirational Consumption at the Bottom of the Pyramid.” Journal of International Consumer Marketing 28 (1): 2–15.

37.

Häfner

2004. “How Dissimilar Others May Still Resemble the Self: Assimilation and Contrast after Social Comparison.” Journal of Consumer Psychology 14 (1/2): 187–96.

38.

Hayes

A. F.

2013. Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. New York: Guilford.

39.

Hayes

A. F.

2016. “The Process Macro for SPSS and SAS.” http://processmacro.org/index.html (accessed May 19, 2017).

40.

Holliday

2009. “Yelp Integrates Facebook Connect, Online Reviews Becoming Increasingly Social.” Adweek. http://www.adweek.com/digital/yelp-integrates-facebook-connect-online-reviews-becoming-increasingly-social/ (accessed May 26, 2017).

41.

Hsu

Crotts

J. C.

2006. “Segmenting Mainland Chinese Residents Based on Experience, Intention and Desire to Visit Hong Kong.” International Journal of Tourism Research 8 (4): 279–87.

42.

Huang

J. H.

Chen

Y. F.

2006. “Herding in Online Product Choice.” Psychology & Marketing 23 (5): 413–28.

43.

Hughes

2016. “Discover Los Angeles Debuts #Lostinla Campaign.” https://brandingforum.org/news/discover-los-angeles-debuts-lostinla-campaign/ (accessed May 26, 2017).

44.

James

1980. The Principles of Psychology. New York: Holt.

45.

Kang

Schuett

M. A.

2013. “Determinants of Sharing Travel Experiences in Social Media.” Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing 30 (1/2): 93–107.

46.

Karanika

Hogg

M. K.

2016. “Being Kind to Ourselves: Self-Compassion, Coping, and Consumption.” Journal of Business Research 69 (2): 760–69.

47.

Kastanakis

M. N.

Balabanis

2014. “Explaining Variation in Conspicuous Luxury Consumption: An Individual Differences’ Perspective.” Journal of Business Research 67 (10): 2147–54.

48.

Kerr

Lewis

Burgess

2012. “Bragging Rights and Destination Marketing: A Tourism Bragging Rights Model.” Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 19 (1): 7–14.

49.

Khanna

2016. “Don’t Let Social Media Envy Drain Your Bank Account.” http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/aug/social-media-drives-spending-201615023.html (accessed May 5, 2017).

50.

Kirk

R. E.

1982. Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

51.

Krasnova

Widjaja

Buxmann

Wenninger

Benbasat

2015. “Research Note—Why Following Friends Can Hurt You: An Exploratory Investigation of the Effects of Envy on Social Networking Sites among College-Age Users.” Information Systems Research 26 (3): 585–605.

52.

Lange

Crusius

2015. “Dispositional Envy Revisited: Unraveling the Motivational Dynamics of Benign and Malicious Envy.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 41 (2): 284–94.

53.

Leask

Fyall

Barron

2014. “Generation Y: An Agenda for Future Visitor Attraction Research.” International Journal of Tourism Research 16 (5): 462–71.

54.

Lee

K.-T.

Koo

D.-M.

2012. “Effects of Attribute and Valence of e-WOM on Message Adoption: Moderating Roles of Subjective Knowledge and Regulatory Focus.” Computers in Human Behavior 28 (5): 1974–84.

55.

Lee

Youn

2009. “Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM): How eWOM Platforms Influence Consumer Product Judgement.” International Journal of Advertising 28 (3): 473–99.

56.

Lim

Yang

2015. “Effects of Users’ Envy and Shame on Social Comparison That Occurs on Social Network Services.” Computers in Human Behavior 51:300–11.

57.

Lim

Chung

Weaver

P. A.

2012. “The Impact of Social Media on Destination Branding: Consumer-Generated Videos versus Destination Marketer-Generated Videos.” Journal of Vacation Marketing 18 (3): 197–206.

58.

Lin

Utz

2015. “The Emotional Responses of Browsing Facebook: Happiness, Envy, and the Role of Tie Strength.” Computers in Human Behavior 52:29–38.

59.

Liu

Baumeister

R. F.

2016. “Social Networking Online and Personality of Self-Worth: A Meta-analysis.” Journal of Research in Personality 64:79–89.

60.

Mandel

Rucker

D. D.

Levav

Galinsky

A. D.

2017. “The Compensatory Consumer Behavior Model: How Self-Discrepancies Drive Consumer Behavior.” Journal of Consumer Psychology 27 (1): 133–46.

61.

Mediakix. 2016. “Instagram Marketing Case Study: Hawaii’s #Lethawaiihappen Campaign.” http://mediakix.com/2016/05/instagram-marketing-case-study-hawaii-tourism-campaign/#gs.CJxYSxM (accessed May 21, 2017).

62.

Miller

C. T.

1982. “The Role of Performance-Related Similarity in Social Comparison of Abilities: A Test of the Related Attributes Hypothesis.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 18 (6): 513–23.

63.

Morgan

2015. “Nownership, No Problem: Why Millennials Value Experiences over Owning Things.” Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2015/06/01/nownershipnoproblem-nowners-millennials-value-experiences-over-ownership/#5e4979045406 (accessed May 5, 2017).

64.

Mussweiler

Rüter

Epstude

2004. “The Ups and Downs of Social Comparison: Mechanisms of Assimilation and Contrast.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 87 (6): 832–44.

65.

Narangajavana Kaosiri

Callarisa Fiol

L. J.

Moliner Tena

M. Á.

Rodríguez Artola

R. M.

Sánchez García

2017. “User-Generated Content Sources in Social Media: A New Approach to Explore Tourist Satisfaction.” Journal of Travel Research. Published online December 14, 2017. doi:10.1177/0047287517746014.

66.

Nia

Zaichkowsky

J. L.

2000. “Do Counterfeits Devalue the Ownership of Luxury Brands?” Journal of Product & Brand Management 9 (7): 485–97.

67.

Nielsen. 2014. “Millennials—Breaking the Myths.” http://www.exploremidtown.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/nielsen-millennial-report-feb-2014.pdf (accessed May 5, 2017).

68.

Nielsen. 2015. “Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse African-American Consumers: The Untold Story.” http://www.ethnifacts.com/african-american-consumer-untold-story-sept-2015.pdf (accessed May 5, 2017).

69.

Nisbett

R. E.

Gordon

1967. “Self-Esteem and Susceptibility to Social Influence.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 5 (3): 268–76.

70.

Nowak

Thach

Olsen

J. E.

2006. “Wowing the Millennials: Creating Brand Equity in the Wine Industry.” Journal of Product & Brand Management 15 (5): 316–23.

71.

Pan

Zhang

J. Q.

2011. “Born Unequal: A Study of the Helpfulness of User-Generated Product Reviews.” Journal of Retailing 87 (4): 598–612.

72.

Papathanassis

Knolle

2011. “Exploring the Adoption and Processing of Online Holiday Reviews: A Grounded Theory Approach.” Tourism Management 32 (2): 215–24.

73.

Park

D.-H.

Lee

2009. “eWOM Overload and Its Effect on Consumer Behavioral Intention Depending on Consumer Involvement.” Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 7 (4): 386–98.

74.

Parsa

Cobanoglu

2011. “Building a Model of Commitment for Generation Y: An Empirical Study on E-travel Retailers.” Tourism Management 32 (4): 833–43.

75.

Peterson

2004. “Savvy Gen Y Isn’t Buying Traditional Sales Pitches.” The Seattle Times, May, 17.

76.

Phillips

Barnes

Zigan

Schegg

2017. “Understanding the Impact of Online Reviews on Hotel Performance: An Empirical Analysis.” Journal of Travel Research 56 (2): 235–49.

77.

Preacher

K. J.

Rucker

D. D.

Hayes

A. F.

2007. “Addressing Moderated Mediation Hypotheses: Theory, Methods, and Prescriptions.” Multivariate Behavioral Research 42 (1): 185–227.

78.

Price

2016. “Millennial Travel Trends: A Look at the Largest Generations’ Habits.” http://www.internetmarketinginc.com/blog/millennial-travel-trends/ (accessed May 26, 2017).

79.

Purnawirawan

Eisend

De Pelsmacker

Dens

2015. “A Meta-analytic Investigation of the Role of Valence in Online Reviews.” Journal of Interactive Marketing 31:17–27.

80.

Rosenberg

1965. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

81.

Rubin

Hewstone

1998. “Social Identity Theory’s Self-Esteem Hypothesis: A Review and Some Suggestions for Clarification.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 2 (1): 40–62.

82.

Sheth

J. N.

Sethia

N. K.

Srinivas

2011. “Mindful Consumption: A Customer-Centric Approach to Sustainability.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 39 (1): 21–39.

83.

Sillman

Peterson

E. R.

Rickert

2016. “Where Are the Global Millennials? ” http://www.atkearney.co.uk/paper/-/asset_publisher/dVxv4Hz2h8bS/content/id/8693136 (accessed October 23, 2017).

84.

Sivanathan

Pettit

N. C.

2010. “Protecting the Self through Consumption: Status Goods as Affirmational Commodities.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 46 (3): 564–70.

85.

Skift. 2016. “Skift CMO Interviews: Los Angeles Tourism CMO on Connecting with Millennials.” https://skift.com/2016/04/05/skift-cmo-interviews-los-angeles-tourism-cmo-on-connecting-with-millennials/?platform=hootsuite (accessed May 26, 2017).

86.

Sparks

B. A.

Browning

2011. “The Impact of Online Reviews on Hotel Booking Intentions and Perception of Trust.” Tourism Management 32 (6): 1310–23.

87.

Spiller

S. A.

Fitzsimons

G. J.

Lynch

J. G.

Jr. McClelland

G. H.

2013. “Spotlights, Floodlights, and the Magic Number Zero: Simple Effects Tests in Moderated Regression.” Journal of Marketing Research 50 (2): 277–88.

88.

Stapel

D. A.

Marx

D. M.

2007. “Distinctiveness Is Key: How Different Types of Self-Other Similarity Moderate Social Comparison Effects.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 33 (3): 439–48.

89.

Sterling

Van de Ven

Smith

R. H.

2016. “The Two Faces of Envy: Studying Benign and Malicious Envy in the Workplace.” In Envy at Work and in Organizations: Research, Theory, and Applications, edited by Smith

R. H.

Merlone

Duffy

M. K.

, 57–84. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

90.

Strohmer

D. C.

Biggs

D. A.

McIntyre

W. F.

1984. “Social Comparison Information and Judgments about Depression and Seeking Counseling.” Journal of Counseling Psychology 31 (4): 591–94.

91.

Suls

Martin

Wheeler

2002. “Social Comparison: Why, with Whom, and with What Effect?” Current Directions in Psychological Science 11 (5): 159–63.

92.

Tapscott

1997. Growing up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.

93.

Tesser

1988. “Toward a Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model of Social Behavior.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 21:181–227.

94.

Tice

D. M.

1993. “The Social Motivations of People with Low Self-Esteem.” In Self-Esteem: The Puzzle of Low Self-Regard, edited by Baumeister

R. F.

, 37–53. New York: Plenum.

95.

Tourism Northern Ireland Board. 2013. “Keeping Up with the Millennials.” Tourism Northern Ireland Board. https://www.tourismni.com/globalassets/facts-and-figures/tourism-intelligence/intelligent-vision—keeping-up-with-the-millennials.pdf (accessed May 5, 2017).

96.

Truong

McColl

2011. “Intrinsic Motivations, Self-Esteem, and Luxury Goods Consumption.” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 18 (6): 555–61.

97.

Tynan

McKechnie

Chhuon

2010. “Co-creating Value for Luxury Brands.” Journal of Business Research 63 (11): 1156–63.

98.

U.S. Travel Association. 2016. “Leisure Travel Decision Making: II—Destination Selection Process.” http://files.visitphilly.com/USTA_Leisure%20Travel_Destination_Selection_%202016.pdf (accessed May 13, 2017).

99.

Van de Ven

2016. “Envy and Its Consequences: Why It Is Useful to Distinguish between Benign and Malicious Envy.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 10 (6): 337–49.

100.

Van de Ven

Zeelenberg

Pieters

2009. “Leveling up and down: The Experiences of Benign and Malicious Envy.” Emotion 9 (3): 419–29.

101.

Van de Ven

Zeelenberg

Pieters

2011a. “The Envy Premium in Product Evaluation.” Journal of Consumer Research 37 (6): 984–98.

102.

Van de Ven

Zeelenberg

Pieters

2011b. “Why Envy Outperforms Admiration.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 37 (6): 784–95.

103.

Vigneron

Johnson

L. W.

2004. “Measuring Perceptions of Brand Luxury.” Journal of Brand Management 11 (6): 484–506.

104.

Vogel

E. A.

Rose

J. P.

Roberts

L. R.

Eckles

2014. “Social Comparison, Social Media, and Self-Esteem.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture 3 (4): 206–22.

105.

Wallace

James

T. L.

Warkentin

2017. “How Do You Feel about Your Friends? Understanding Situational Envy in Online Social Networks.” Information & Management 54 (5): 669–82.

106.

Wheeler

Miyake

1992. “Social Comparison in Everyday Life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 62 (5): 760–73.

107.

Wiedmann

K. P.

Hennigs

Siebels

2009. “Value-Based Segmentation of Luxury Consumption Behavior.” Psychology & Marketing 26 (7): 625–51.

108.

Williams

Heiser

Chinn

S. J.

2012. “Social Media Posters and Lurkers: The Impact on Team Identification and Game Attendance in Minor League Baseball.” Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice 13 (4): 295–310.

109.

Wood

J. V.

1989. “Theory and Research Concerning Social Comparisons of Personal Attributes.” Psychological Bulletin 106 (2): 231–48.

110.

Xiang

Gretzel

2010. “Role of Social Media in Online Travel Information Search.” Tourism Management 31 (2): 179–88.

111.

Yang

2005. “Do Media Portrayals of Affluence Foster Feelings of Relative Deprivation? Exploring a Path Model of Social Comparison and Materialism on Television Viewers’ Life Dissatisfaction.” PhD diss., Pennsylvania State University, Philadelphia.

112.

Yang

Mattila

2014. “Do Affluent Customers Care When Luxury Brands Go Mass? The Role of Product Type and Status Seeking on Luxury Brand Attitude.” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 26 (4): 526–43.

113.

Yang

Mattila

A. S.

2017. “The Impact of Status Seeking on Consumers’ Word of Mouth and Product Preference—A Comparison between Luxury Hospitality Services and Luxury Goods.” Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research 41 (1): 3–22.

114.

Yang

Zhang

Mattila

A. S.

2016. “Luxe for Less: How Do Consumers React to Luxury Hotel Price Promotions? The Moderating Role of Consumers’ Need for Status.” Cornell Hospitality Quarterly 57 (1): 82–92.

115.

Yeoman

McMahon-Beattie

2006. “Luxury Markets and Premium Pricing.” Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management 4 (4): 319–28.

116.

Zuo

2014. “Measuring up: Social Comparisons on Facebook and Contributions to Self-Esteem and Mental Health.” Master’s thesis, University of Michigan.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.22 MB