**5. Discussion and conclusions**

Generally speaking, it can be argued that younger generations, and in particular the Gen Y, arouse great interest in the business sectors, including tourism, due to their short, medium and long-term potential [1–7]. Likewise, ICTs and, especially smartphones, are also considered key elements for the development of this sector and necessary for the evolution of destinations into smart tourism destinations [43–46]. Under the web 2.0 model, within the variety of ICTs, smartphones stand out for the numerous advantages and potential to create or improve the tourist experience [36, 42, 51, 52], contributing to the transformation of the consumer tourist into the "adprosumer" tourist [1–4]. The high credibility of the comments and options of adprosumers makes them a key element for the dissemination and marketing activities that DMOs must procure and guarantee [53–59]. To this end, it is essential that smartphone tools are correctly integrated into the digital marketing and communication strategies of DMOs, for which it is essential to obtain detailed information about stakeholders' expectations and ICTs usage habits.

This has been precisely the main objective of this study, focused on smartphone use by the Gen Y during travel and on the emotions and feelings associated with these uses, motivated by the effects of nomophobia on the young population. This is crucial information due to the impact of smartphone use on the perception of the tourist experience and, therefore, on the positive or negative nature of the eWOM Gen Y can generate motivated by factors unrelated to the tourist experience itself.

The main conclusion behind the results presented here is customization and individualization. As mentioned, Gen Y exhibits essential differences that need to be considered in strategic approaches.

Gen Y respondents have confirmed they experience, to a greater extent, negative feelings and emotions, which is one of the characteristic features of nomophobia [68, 70, 71, 74]. This situation occurs mainly among the youngest age segment (16–19), while the older age groups claim to experience greater indifference. It can be concluded that as their years of coexistence with the web 2.0 model decrease, their emotional involvement with the use of smartphones during travel also decreases. Having concluded that Gen Y experience negative emotions that can influence their perception of the tourist experience, the following step was to analyze the extent to which they use the tourism-related functionalities of these devices.

Regarding the tourist functionalities under analysis [84], most users claimed to use them frequently, being "Learn about destination" the least used. There are also intragroup differences in this regard, because the youngest age group (16–19) uses these functions the least, suggesting an area of opportunity for DMOs, which can enhance the use of these functionalities to influence the feelings and emotions Gen Y associate with smartphone use during travel. In fact, the results allude to a behavior among the youngest segment of the Gen Y that suggests that their smartphone use for non-tourism purposes during travel sometimes generates negative emotions and feelings. This behavior is confirmed by the analysis of the results about the emotions and feelings respondents associate with each of the three tourism-related functionalities. In all cases where respondents claim they almost never use any of

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*Gen Y: Emotions and Functions of Smartphone Use for Tourist Purposes*

any kind of feeling, which is the main trigger of eWOM.

associated emotions and feelings.

also of the University of Alicante.

**Conflict of interest**

of this article.

**Acknowledgements**

the functionalities, negative feelings stand out. However, those who do use these functionalities claim they do not associate neither positive nor negative feelings with smartphone use during travel. This trend grows almost in parallel to participants' age and is amplified in the case of the "learn about destination" functionality. It is therefore concluded that smartphone use during travel affects the youngest tourists and is not a key element for the rest age groups. There is a clear need to enhance the tourism use of the smartphones among the youngest group (16–19), to promote the creation of positive feelings and emotions. The intermediate age group (20–29) uses the tourist functionalities frequently and is characterized by a more neutral emotional behavior. Finally, the oldest age segment (30–38) requires strategies that combine the virtual and real worlds because, for them, smartphones by themselves do not generate

The conclusions indicate the future limitations and lines of this study on Gen Y′ smartphone uses during travel and their emotional effects. First, it is necessary to delve into the relationship between feelings and emotions, the perception of the tourist experience and the generation of eWOM. It is also relevant to compare the effects derived from the tourist activities performed virtually (via smartphones) and physically (consultation of printed guides, visits to tourist offices, interaction with destinations' residents, etc.). In any case, the main conclusion, as mentioned above, lies in the complexity that characterizes stakeholders, which discourages the indiscriminate use of categorizations and taxonomies to approach digital marketing and communication strategies in the tourism sector. Generational classifications are undoubtedly of great interest and usefulness as a starting point, but they require further and deeper analyses of people's desires and expectations according to their generation. In particular, the rapid and constant change that characterizes ICTs is shortening the periods of study necessary to extract valid general guidelines and premises. In this sense, a generation spanning 22 years, from 1982 to 2004, turns out to be too broad for a general description of smartphone use during travel and its

The authors would like to thank Dr. Asunción Huertas Roig, Dr. Estela Mariné Roig, and the Enfoca Group (www.grupoenfoca.com) for their invaluable contribution to the validation and implementation of the survey, as well as to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable observations. This paper has been funded by the I3CE Research Network Program for University Teaching of the Education Sciences Institute of the University of Alicante (Ref.: 4667. PROTOCOL Inter-University Network of Collaborative Work in Protocol, Event Management, and Institutional Relations, 2019–2020) and the research groups Experiential Marketing, Events and Integrated Communication (MAE-CO) and Aging & Communication (AgeCOM),

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94245*

#### *Gen Y: Emotions and Functions of Smartphone Use for Tourist Purposes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94245*

the functionalities, negative feelings stand out. However, those who do use these functionalities claim they do not associate neither positive nor negative feelings with smartphone use during travel. This trend grows almost in parallel to participants' age and is amplified in the case of the "learn about destination" functionality.

It is therefore concluded that smartphone use during travel affects the youngest tourists and is not a key element for the rest age groups. There is a clear need to enhance the tourism use of the smartphones among the youngest group (16–19), to promote the creation of positive feelings and emotions. The intermediate age group (20–29) uses the tourist functionalities frequently and is characterized by a more neutral emotional behavior. Finally, the oldest age segment (30–38) requires strategies that combine the virtual and real worlds because, for them, smartphones by themselves do not generate any kind of feeling, which is the main trigger of eWOM.

The conclusions indicate the future limitations and lines of this study on Gen Y′ smartphone uses during travel and their emotional effects. First, it is necessary to delve into the relationship between feelings and emotions, the perception of the tourist experience and the generation of eWOM. It is also relevant to compare the effects derived from the tourist activities performed virtually (via smartphones) and physically (consultation of printed guides, visits to tourist offices, interaction with destinations' residents, etc.). In any case, the main conclusion, as mentioned above, lies in the complexity that characterizes stakeholders, which discourages the indiscriminate use of categorizations and taxonomies to approach digital marketing and communication strategies in the tourism sector. Generational classifications are undoubtedly of great interest and usefulness as a starting point, but they require further and deeper analyses of people's desires and expectations according to their generation. In particular, the rapid and constant change that characterizes ICTs is shortening the periods of study necessary to extract valid general guidelines and premises. In this sense, a generation spanning 22 years, from 1982 to 2004, turns out to be too broad for a general description of smartphone use during travel and its associated emotions and feelings.
