Document Type

Article

Publisher

Journal of Small Business Strategy

Publication Date

2021

First Page

64

Last Page

75

Issue Number

4

Volume Number

31

Abstract/ Summary

Nature-based tourism represents a growing sector within the tourism industry, and these interests could help improve the conditions of economically disadvantaged rural communities. The new digital landscape, including Internet and social media usage, represents a critical strategic opportunity to inform, educate and reach these tourism segments. The present research examines the impact of social media advertising on nature-based tourism within rural communities. In this research, we utilize the COBRA (Consumers’ Online Brand-Related Activities) model (Muntinga et al., 2011) of consumer behavior to assess the impact social media advertising plays in generating Pre-Consumption, Consumption, Creation, Contribution, and Engagement in rural business. The results are significant, finding that incorporating digital strategies within rural firms is beneficial. According to our research, the careful placement of a social media advertisement can statistically increase engagement components by more than 50%. In theory, this can increase tourism and economic activity in these rural, economically disadvantaged areas.

Version

publisher's version of the published document

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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