How Hidden Hotels Win You Over : The Role of Visual Social Media Content in Reducing Perceived Risk and Enhancing Purchase Intention
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Hidden hotels, a rapidly emerging phenomenon in the digital hospitality sector, heavily rely on visually rich social media content for promotion while lacking traditional offline visibility. Despite their growing popularity, these establishments often attract criticism for misleading marketing and inconsistent service quality. This study investigates how visual content in social media influences consumer purchase intention, with a focus on the mediating role of perceived risk and the moderating effect of perceived manipulation. Drawing upon media richness theory, perceived risk theory, and the persuasion knowledge model, we employ a two-stage research design. The first stage utilizes secondary data from Meituan, Ctrip, and Fliggy, analyzing 100 hotels’ social media engagement metrics and corresponding sales performance. The second stage employs structural equation modeling (SEM) using survey data (N = 200) collected from a simulated hotel post on a major platform. The results reveal that visual content significantly boosts consumer intention when perceived risk is low, but this effect weakens when consumers detect manipulative intent. These findings offer theoretical contributions by contextualizing perceived manipulation within hospitality marketing and underscore the need for authenticity in visual social media content. Practical implications are provided for hotel managers and digital marketers navigating the challenges of online-only branding.
Abstract
Hidden hotels, a rapidly emerging phenomenon in the digital hospitality sector, heavily rely on visually rich social media content for promotion while lacking traditional offline visibility. Despite their growing popularity, these establishments often attract criticism for misleading marketing and inconsistent service quality. This study investigates how visual content in social media influences consumer purchase intention, with a focus on the mediating role of perceived risk and the moderating effect of perceived manipulation. Drawing upon media richness theory, perceived risk theory, and the persuasion knowledge model, we employ a two-stage research design. The first stage utilizes secondary data from Meituan, Ctrip, and Fliggy, analyzing 100 hotels’ social media engagement metrics and corresponding sales performance. The second stage employs structural equation modeling (SEM) using survey data (N = 200) collected from a simulated hotel post on a major platform. The results reveal that visual content significantly boosts consumer intention when perceived risk is low, but this effect weakens when consumers detect manipulative intent. These findings offer theoretical contributions by contextualizing perceived manipulation within hospitality marketing and underscore the need for authenticity in visual social media content. Practical implications are provided for hotel managers and digital marketers navigating the challenges of online-only branding.