| According to the image repair theory,destination image is a critical factor that should be cultivated and protected from crises.One important communication channel in times of crisis is the social media,with Facebook as the world's leading social network.In spite of Facebook's importance as a communication platform,it has received very limited attention in the literature of tourism crisis communication and image restoration.To bridge over this gap,the current study analyzed Facebook fan pages of travel marketers(TMs)and Nepal regional destinations branding organizations(DBOs)in order to restore its image following the Gurkha earthquake-an earthquake of 7.8 magnitudes that took place on April 25 th 2015.For this purpose,a qualitative content analysis was conducted on the posts,content,pictures and links posted on many TMs and DBOs Facebook fan pages.The results of the study have shed light on the role of Facebook as a mean of image restoration and on its unique characteristics as a multi-functional tool that can be used to address diverse audiences,to conduct both formal and informal interactions,to post various kinds of information,to bypass the news media and to serve as an additional distribution channel.The study also offers some interesting insights for tourism marketers.The present study investigated the conceptual model in the context of the travel and tourism Facebook fan pages developed by travel marketers(TMs)or DBOs.The Little is known about the experiences and possible outcomes of potential clients' intentions and willingness on Facebook fan pages.Previous studies on social networking sites have focused on the benefits or needs that members fulfill through participation.This research employed two theories from social psychology: the Theory of Reasoned Action(TRA)and the Prototype Willingness Model to understand the underlying dual processing of behavior on travel marketers(TMs)Facebook fan pages.To the author's knowledge,the two theories have never been combined together to comprehensively investigate clients' behavior in tourism industry.The aim of this research was to systematically understand the dual-route when people use DBOs and TMs Facebook fan pages with the theoretical support of the Theory of Reasoned Action(TRA)and the Prototype Willingness Model.The present study investigated the conceptual model in the context of the travel marketers' Facebook fan pages.Data set was composed from the official travel makers(TMs)Facebook pages at local regional level of Nepal.Related share,comments and likes present on TMs Facebook pages were extracted for this investigative research during the year 2015(from the 1st of January to the 31 st of December 2015),obtaining a total of 30,197 posts.Also data were collected from online surveys completed by 1131 peoples someway or other related to tourism sector of Nepal structural equation modeling(SEM)approach.The first step involved confirmatory factor analysis(CFA),which was employed to validate the scales for the measurement of specific constructs proposed in the research model and SEM was used to test the conceptual model.The results indicate that: 1)Fans decision-making is a dual route process,an intentional as well as an unintentional decision-making path.Therefore,both paths operate simultaneously.2)This research reveals that the cognitive and affective components influence potential clients' attitude towards participation in TMs and DBOs Facebook fan pages.In particular,social interaction ties affect the most attitudes toward fan pages,followed by information source,design characteristics,and entertainment.3)Attitude is a strong predictor of behavioral intention and behavioral willingness on Facebook Fan pages.4)Subjective norms are significant and meaningful for clients' intention and behavioral willingness towards these online communities.5)The prototype image in the social reaction path is an important determinant of behavioral willingness toward TMS and DBOs fan pages.6)Behavioral willingness and intentions towards fan pages create a positive change in the product purchase behavior of clients indicating that members modify their selection behaviors toward the destinations because of their membership in the TMS and DBOs Facebook fan page.The research is significant in both theory and practice.From the theoretical perspective,the study contributes substantially to the understanding of clients' decision-making process on Facebook fan pages.From the practical perspective,the description of fans' cognitive and affective believes assist travel marketers and Facebook fan page designers in developing more effective fan pages. |
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