doi.org/10.52340/eab.2024.16.03.09

the 21st century, the rapid development of digital technologies has fundamentally transformed all aspects of our lives, which is why companies, for the most part, have switched to electronic information services. In this case, a special role is assigned to social media, which influences the behavior of tourists. Indeed, social media is a digital platform that allows users to interactively create and share different topics, opinions and experiences with each other.
Today, companies use social media to create successful branding strategies and develop diverse channels of communication with consumers.At the modern stage, social media has become an integral part of the tourism industry, and it plays an important role in consumers' selection of destinations. Social media platforms allow consumers to find concise and relevant information related to tourism. However, each consumer has a specific desire and intention to control their travel experience, which social media helps them do. Social media has increased the ability of people to share their travel experiences with a wider audience than ever before. Accordingly, social media has become a contributing factor in promoting tourism, interacting with tourism service providers, and receiving customer feedback. In addition, social media offers organizations engaged in destination marketing tools that help them maximize target audiences with limited resources.
The tourism industry in Georgia has been developing rapidly in recent years. In Georgia, like other countries, the development of the tourism sector is facilitated by the information spread by travellers and service providers on social media. Despite the wide distribution of social media in the tourism industry of Georgia, the peculiarities of consumer behavior in this area have not been studied much. The issues to be studied in this direction are still relevant. Based on this, the aim of this study is to study the attitude of consumers towards the use of social media marketing in the field of tourism in Georgia. For this, marketing research was conducted. The paper is based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which is the most influential and widespread theory. TAM is widely used to determine consumer adoption of online platforms for travel and their impact on tourist behavior.
The article discusses the impact of digital technologies on the tourism industry. Special attention is paid to social media, which influences the behavior of users of tourism services. The paper's methodological basis is the Technology Acceptance Model, which helps us study Georgian consumers' attitudes to the information posted on social media by tourist destinations. Based on the literature analysis, research variables (perceived ease, perceived usefulness, attitude towards use, behavioral intention and purchase decision) are identified. Relevant research hypotheses and research conceptual model have been developed. The data was collected using an online survey method. The quantitative research method is used in the paper. For the study of the general community, we used the sampling method. The research area was represented by Georgia, and we made the selection in such a way that it was representative. The target general population of the research is the number of social media users in Georgia. Assuming a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error, the sample size was determined to be 608 people.
Since the purpose of the research is to gain knowledge about the impact of social media on purchasing decisions about tourism services and to generalize these results to the selected target group, the quantitative method is the best for this. Based on the set objective, To test research hypotheses, the paper uses a structured questionnaire that includes questions about the respondent's profile and constructs. Correlation and regression analysis methods are used for data processing. Dependencies between the variables named above are established. As a result of the analysis, statistically significant values were obtained, which confirms the reliability of the provisions used in the study and proves the established hypotheses.
The present study provides extensive information about the influence of social media on tourism consumers in Georgia. Our research has shown that Georgian consumers show special interest in tourist destinations and use social media more and more often. Correlational and regression analyses revealed that tourists' perceived ease and perceived usefulness of using social media are positively related to their attitudes toward social media. In turn, social media attitudes influence their downstream intention, which in turn affects destination decision-making. As a result of analyzing the results of the research, statistically significant values were obtained, which reflect the relationships between the above-mentioned variables.
The results of the study confirmed the importance of a number of insights presented in the literature review that tourism organizations should take into account in order to exploit their opportunities. The research revealed that the variables we selected are relevant to tourism customer relationships. It should be noted that the results of our study confirm the existing literature in terms of the influence of social media on tourist behavior. Therefore, the results of the study have theoretical significance in terms of the use of social media as a marketing communication tool in tourism. Companies can use these results to effectively interact with customers and promote their marketing strategies through social media. The practical implementation of the research results will help managers working in the tourism industry expand their understanding of social media and actively use it to attract the target audience.
In addition, we should mention that several limitations were considered when conducting the research. The study mainly focused on the 18-35 age group, which cannot be considered as the entire population, however, the largest share of the number of social media users comes from this age group. Although residents of different regions of Georgia took part in the research, the research was mostly based on a survey of consumers in the capital city (Tbilisi). Such a restriction was based on the fact that the largest part of Georgian residents and, therefore, social media users come to Tbilisi. With further studies, it is advisable to expand the sample size to include a diverse audience from different regions of the country. In addition, qualitative research methods can be incorporated into the study to analyze in more depth the specific mechanisms through which social media influence tourism consumer behavior.

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Keywords: Social media, tourism service, consumer behavior, marketing research.
JEL Codes: L82, L83, M31