New Research Reveals Social Media and Advertising’s Influence in Inspiring Travel

Research from Expedia Group uncovers how and where travelers plan and book travel, revealing the growing role of social media and advertising influence, top online resources, and the new online path to purchase.

Understanding travel content consumption habits of travelers seeking inspiration to plan their trip is now a bit easier, thanks to Expedia Group's new Path to Purchase research. Conducted by Expedia Group and Luth Research, the research sheds light on traveler preferences and behaviors throughout the online shopping journey and illustrates where and how they plan and book travel, from the typical number of travel website visits and page views to destination considerations, trip resources and influences at every stage.

THE GROWING ROLE OF TRAVEL CONTENT IN THE BOOKING PROCESS

The research revealed the significant volume of content that travelers consume to inform their decision to travel, as they seek to refine their options in the 45 days prior to booking a trip online. On average, across the seven countries surveyed:

• Travelers view 141 pages of travel content in the 45 days prior to booking a trip, with these page views distributed throughout their path to purchase.
• In the early stages of planning, research is more spread out (about 2.5 page views per day), while it increases exponentially in the few days prior to a booking, ending with 25 page views on the day of purchase.

The research has also highlighted the top resources that travelers are using in the 45 days leading up to purchase:

• Online travel agencies (OTAs) (80%), search engines (61%), social media (58%), airline websites (54%), and meta travel websites (51%) are the top five resources used by most travelers.
• And four in five travelers visit an OTA at some point before making a travel purchase, indicating that travelers likely visited an OTA for inspiration, research or planning purposes, even if travelers book on another website.

TRAVELERS ARE LOOKING FOR DESTINATION INSPIRATION

Most travelers revealed they were undecided on where they would like to travel to before they start the trip planning process, indicating that these travelers may be even more open to destination inspiration.

• Nearly three in five travelers surveyed said that they did not have a specific destination in mind, or considered multiple destinations when they first decided to take a trip (59%).

Significant numbers also said that they are influenced by what they consumed on social media and in advertising.

• Of those that use social media in the path to purchase, 77% use it for inspiration.
• Nearly one in five (19%) travelers said advertising influenced their decision to book a trip. This number was highest among travelers from Mexico at 40%.
• Vacation rental guests (26%) and hotel guests (22%) are also more likely to be influenced by advertising.

To view the full report, click here.

Courtesy of Groups Today.