The effect of information adoption from social media on China’s destination attitude and destination visit intention

As Internet technology advances and smartphones become widespread, social media has become a crucial platform for travellers to obtain and share information about tourism destinations. It not only facilitates information exchange but also serves as an effective medium for destination promotion. Although China remains one of the world's major tourism destinations, research on how social media promotes Chinese destinations and influences foreign tourists' travel intentions is limited, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examines the influence of social media information on the travel intentions of foreign tourists toward China, with a primary focus on non-Chinese citizens aged 18 and older who reside outside of China and have not visited China since the onset of COVID-19. Data were collected using a non-probability sampling method, yielding 311 valid responses. SmartPLS 4.0 software was employed to perform Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) for hypothesis testing. The results reveal that information quality and information credibility have a significant influence on information usefulness, which in turn positively affects information adoption. Information adoption enhances destination image recognition, which in turn shapes destination attitude and visit intention. Theoretically, this study integrates the Information Adoption Model (IAM) and the ABC model of attitudes to construct a comprehensive framework explaining how social media information influences tourists' perceptions and behavioural intentions. Empirically, it offers new insights into how foreign tourists form destination image recognition and travel intentions toward China through social media, thereby addressing a significant research gap in post-pandemic tourism studies. This research contributes original value by extending information adoption theory to the context of international tourism destination marketing, enriching the understanding of how social media information shapes cross-cultural travel behaviour and promoting the global visibility of Chinese destinations.