Social Media and Millennials’ Tourism Experiences: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review of Digital Behaviour, Co-Creation, and Destination Engagement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33152/jmphss-10.5.4Keywords:
Millennials, Social media, Tourism experience, Digital consumer behaviour, Experience co-creationAbstract
Social media has become integral to tourism experiences, shaping how Millennials search for information, construct expectations, engage with destinations, share experiences, and influence other travelers. However, research on these processes remains fragmented across tourism, marketing, consumer behavior, and media studies. This study traces the intellectual, conceptual, and thematic evolution of research on social media and Millennials’ tourism experiences across 5 core areas: Digital behavior, Experience co-creation, Engagement with destinations, User-generated content, and Post-experience advocacy. A hybrid bibliometric and systematic literature review was performed, and the data were collected from 204 peer-reviewed articles published from 2011 to 2025 in Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection. We conducted a bibliometric analysis using PRISMA 2020 to examine publication characteristics, co-authorship, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic evolution, followed by a systematic thematic synthesis to interpret the behavior and theories associated with the identified research streams. The findings reveal six interconnected conceptual clusters and three broader mechanisms shaping Millennials’ digitally mediated tourism experiences. First, social media serves as an experiential and affective space where tourists co-create value. Second, destination image formation is increasingly influenced by peer-generated and socially validated content rather than solely by destination-controlled communication. Third, user-generated content functions within a recursive experience–eWOM process in which consumed content shapes expectations and experiences, while post-trip sharing influences future tourists. The review further indicates a shift from information-oriented research toward interactive, affective, and technology-enabled perspectives. The study integrates fragmented research into a behavioral framework linking motivations, digital engagement, user-generated content, co-creation, cognitive-affective responses, and behavioral outcomes. The findings position social media beyond its promotional function as an infrastructure for tourism experience formation and provide implications for destination managers seeking to strengthen engagement, trust, and post-trip advocacy among Millennial travelers.
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