Influence of Social Media on Travelers’ Purchase Decisions: an Empirical Study With Reference To the Karnataka Tourism Industry

Abstract

Tourism has always fed on stories, and today those stories travel faster and wider than any brochure or broadcast ever could. Across Karnataka’s diverse geography, from the basalt ruins of Hampi to the cardamom-scented estates of Kodagu, social media has become the most immediate and persuasive channel through which potential visitors encounter, imagine, and ultimately decide upon their next journey. This study examines, through primary empirical evidence, how four distinct social media dimensions shape the travel purchase decisions of tourists engaging with Karnataka destinations. Data were gathered from 240 respondents who had actively used social media in planning or booking a Karnataka tourism experience within the twelve months preceding the survey. The constructs measured are social media content credibility, user-generated content influence, influencer endorsement effect, and platform engagement, all assessed against travelers’ purchase decisions as the dependent variable. Reliability across the instrument is strong, with Cronbach’s Alpha values ranging from 0.801 to 0.874. Four directional hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis on IBM SPSS Version 26. The model explains 51.4 percent of the variance in purchase decisions (R² = 0.514, Adjusted R² = 0.503, F = 52.89, p < 0.001). Content credibility carries the largest standardised effect (Beta = 0.362), followed by user-generated content (Beta = 0.291), influencer endorsement (Beta = 0.216), and platform engagement (Beta = 0.186). All four hypotheses are supported. The findings carry direct implications for how Karnataka Tourism and its industry partners should design, prioritise, and invest in digital content strategy.