Social media are acknowledged as an important information source that influences tourists’ travel choices. However, qualitative studies that take an inductive approach to identify the roles of social media by investigating how social media affect travel choices are limited. By interviewing 21 tourists who had recently taken trips, this article aimed to identify the roles that social media played in the tourists’ choices of six travel components (destination, transportation, accommodation, food and dining activities, attractions, as well as shopping and leisure activities). Four roles have been identified: Need Generator, Supporter, Guider and Approver. Theoretical and practical implications along with future research suggestions are discussed.

中文翻译：

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社交媒体在游客选择旅行方式中的作用

社交媒体被认为是影响游客旅行选择的重要信息来源。但是，采用归纳方法通过调查社交媒体如何影响旅行选择来确定社交媒体角色的定性研究是有限的。通过采访21位最近旅行的游客，本文旨在确定社交媒体在游客选择的六个旅行组成部分（目的地，交通，住宿，餐饮活动，景点以及购物和休闲）中扮演的角色活动）。确定了四个角色：需求生成者，支持者，指导者和批准者。讨论了理论和实践意义以及未来的研究建议。