The Impact of Social Media Environmental Factors on Individuals’ Behavioral Intentions toward Karbala as a Religious Tourism Destination

Religious tourism is one of the most thriving types of tourism in the world, and social networks are considered influential tools for developing various types of tourism. The holy city of Karbala in Iraq has long been one of the most popular destinations for religious tourism, and millions of Muslim and non-Muslim tourists visit this city every year. However, no research was found that examined the impact of social media environmental factors on people's behavioral intentions to visit the city of Karbala as a religious tourism destination. This research was conducted with the aim of filling this research gap. This research was a descriptive-causal study with an applied purpose. 390 people participated in this study and answered the standard questionnaire, the validity of which was examined by content and construct validity and its reliability by Cronbach's alpha and was confirmed. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods through SPSS and SMART PLS 4 software. The findings showed that the social media environmental factors, including Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) marketing, visibility, and subjective norms, affect envy towards visitors, emotional experience, and cognitive image of the city of Karbala, and these factors also affect people's behavioral intentions. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of paying attention to social network environmental factors in increasing tourists' behavioral intentions to visit the city of Karbala and developing the religious tourism of this city.

The Impact of Social Media Environmental Factors on Individuals’ Behavioral Intentions toward Karbala as a Religious Tourism Destination Keywords:

Social Media Environmental Factors , Behavioral Intention , Electronic Word-of-Mouth (E-WOM) , Religious Tourism of Karbala