Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of social media advertising (SMA) and
influencer endorsements on tourists' destination selection (TDS) for Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and
to determine the moderating role of generational cohorts in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative research design was employed, utilizing a self-administered survey. Data from 202 respondents were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis
(CFI=0.95, TLI=0.94, RMSEA=0.06) to validate the measurement model, followed by multiple
regression and moderation analysis to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings: The regression results indicate that both SMA (β = 0.32, p < 0.001) and human
influencer (HI) endorsements (β = 0.41, p < 0.001) significantly positively influence TDS.
Furthermore, generational cohort significantly moderates these effects: SMA's impact is stronger
for Gen Z (SMA×GenCohort: β = 0.12, p = 0.003), while conventional advertising is more
effective for older cohorts (CA×GenCohort: β = -0.10, p = 0.001).
Practical implications: Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) should adopt a
generationally segmented strategy, prioritizing authentic human influencer partnerships and
targeted social media campaigns for younger demographics, while maintaining a presence in
conventional media for older tourists.
Originality/value: By uniquely integrating the Elaboration Likelihood Model within an emerging
market context, this research fills a critical gap in the literature, providing novel evidence on
generational differences in processing destination marketing.
