**2. Smartphones at the service of the tourist experience**

Current trends have shown the need for tourist destinations to evolve into smart tourism destinations [43–46]. In this sense, the cost associated with the development of smart infrastructures (powerful transport networks, free Wi-Fi, etc.) should not be an obstacle for destinations with fewer resources [47, 48] because, as Huertas et al. [43] point out, there are other more affordable actions that serve the same purpose, such as proper integration and management of social networks and mobile apps.

Effectively, within the wide range of ICTs, smartphones have revolutionized the way tourists interact with the physical and digital worlds, and have become essential and highly valued tools [36, 49, 50] thanks to their capacity to shape and enhance the tourist experience [36, 42, 51, 52], which in turn can favor the promotion and dissemination of the destination by tourists themselves through word of mouth (WOM) and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) [53–59].

The use of smartphones for tourist purposes is nothing more than a reflection of the day-to-day of citizens, who use smartphones for everything (relationships, entertainment, etc.) [28]. As it happens with the use of other ICTs in the field of tourism, this technological dependence has psychological impacts that translate into negative and positive feelings [38, 60–63] that in turn shape the perception of the tourist experience [52, 64–67].

Based on the previous arguments, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) should consider the negative effects of smartphone use, particularly in relation to young users [68–71], who are often victims of related addictions and disorders such as nomophobia, i.e., the irrational fear of not being able to use the smartphone [72–74]. In this regard, it is worth noting the impact that the type of activities performed with smartphones and the context on which it is performed have on the greater or lesser degree of anxiety or stress caused by not being able to use the smartphone [71]. In this sense, in times of loneliness and boredom, for example, not being able to interact with other people, mainly through social networks, or to search for information or use entertainment apps, can trigger an acute case of nomophobia [68, 70, 71, 74]. These effects underline the importance that people, particularly the youngest sector of the population, attach to the main values of the web 2.0 model that have given smartphones their protagonist role: multidirectional communication and universal access to information [1, 10, 24, 25, 40].

Hence the need is to identify the main uses given to smartphones for tourist purposes according to different generations and the consequent ICTs use habits [36], which is one of the objectives of this study. This information is necessary to successfully integrate smartphones into the digital marketing and communication strategies of tourist destinations. Given the numerous advantages of the communication and experiential potential of these devices [44, 45, 75–79], DMOs cannot ignore the fact that their use can also generate negative emotions and feelings,

**251**

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

[53–59] the negative ones can have the opposite effect.

generation and the correlation between these variables.

Y, selected through the snowball sampling technique.

exclude non-suitable respondents and select the final sample.

primarily among their younger stakeholders, including Gen Y [38, 60–63], and that these feelings will in turn affect their perception of the destination and the opinions they share about it. Just like positive feelings and emotions resulting from smartphone use shape the perceptions and experiences tourists share through WOM and eWOM, which favor the promotion and dissemination of the tourist destination

Therefore, and given the relevance of Gen Y for tourism [80–82] and the impact

Since this study focuses on a subject matter on which there is little research, it will adopt an exploratory design [83], based on the conduction of an online survey questionnaire applied to a sample of Gen Y respondents, who in turn shared the questionnaire with their contacts. It is therefore a representative sample of the Gen

The sample consists of individuals who meet the following criteria: belong to the Gen Y, own a smartphone, and used it on their last tourist trip. The first section of the survey questionnaire consists of items that verify these criteria to be able to

The questionnaire design, in addition to relying on previous studies and research

The survey is structured in three sections. The first one, as mentioned, aims to confirm whether respondents meet the sample selection criteria. It consists of three questions about respondents' age, smartphone ownership and smartphone use in latest trip. In addition, four more questions relating to gender, education level and country of residence were included for a better sociodemographic description of the

The next two sets consist of two and three closed-ended questions, respectively,

The first of these sets explores emotions and feelings based on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) scale items [85] Respondents were asked to use a 3-point Likert scale to assess the positive or negative feelings they associated to their

[31, 84, 85], was validated by two well-known academic and researchers in the tourism sector and by a prestigious company specialized in digital marketing. This ensured the academic and professional validation of the instrument. Following this first review and subsequent correction, the questionnaire was pilot tested on a convenience sample of 50 people who met the same requirements set for the final sample. Based on these results, further adjustments were made to the instrument. The final version of the survey questionnaire was distributed online during May and June 2020. A total of 201 questionnaires were answered and returned, but 10 of them were discarded because the respondents did not meet the sample selection criteria. A total of 191 valid questionnaires were analyzed to achieve the research

of smartphone use on the tourist experience [31, 36, 44, 45, 51, 52, 75–79], this study aims to describe the feelings and emotions that the use of the smartphone and its tourism-related functionalities generates during travel on members of this

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

**3. Research methodology**

**3.1 Sample**

objectives.

final sample.

**3.2 Measurements constructs**

that aim to gather quantitative data.

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

primarily among their younger stakeholders, including Gen Y [38, 60–63], and that these feelings will in turn affect their perception of the destination and the opinions they share about it. Just like positive feelings and emotions resulting from smartphone use shape the perceptions and experiences tourists share through WOM and eWOM, which favor the promotion and dissemination of the tourist destination [53–59] the negative ones can have the opposite effect.

Therefore, and given the relevance of Gen Y for tourism [80–82] and the impact of smartphone use on the tourist experience [31, 36, 44, 45, 51, 52, 75–79], this study aims to describe the feelings and emotions that the use of the smartphone and its tourism-related functionalities generates during travel on members of this generation and the correlation between these variables.

## **3. Research methodology**

Since this study focuses on a subject matter on which there is little research, it will adopt an exploratory design [83], based on the conduction of an online survey questionnaire applied to a sample of Gen Y respondents, who in turn shared the questionnaire with their contacts. It is therefore a representative sample of the Gen Y, selected through the snowball sampling technique.

#### **3.1 Sample**

*Tourism*

mobile apps.

tourist experience [52, 64–67].

Within the diversity of ICTs, the boom and massive adoption of smartphones among Gen Y [20, 25–28] as well as the proven relevance of these mobile devices for the tourism sector highlight the need for more studies on this regard to contribute to the development of a still incipient and scarce line of research [18, 29–31]. Just like with any other ICTs, the integration of smartphones into the digital marketing and communication strategies of the tourism business should take into account the particularities of the different stakeholders of the destinations [5, 17, 18, 32–36] to ensure their use actually generates positive emotions and sensations [31, 37–39] that

contribute to a different, original, and satisfying tourist experience [40–42].

Current trends have shown the need for tourist destinations to evolve into smart tourism destinations [43–46]. In this sense, the cost associated with the development of smart infrastructures (powerful transport networks, free Wi-Fi, etc.) should not be an obstacle for destinations with fewer resources [47, 48] because, as Huertas et al. [43] point out, there are other more affordable actions that serve the same purpose, such as proper integration and management of social networks and

Effectively, within the wide range of ICTs, smartphones have revolutionized the way tourists interact with the physical and digital worlds, and have become essential and highly valued tools [36, 49, 50] thanks to their capacity to shape and enhance the tourist experience [36, 42, 51, 52], which in turn can favor the promotion and dissemination of the destination by tourists themselves through word of

The use of smartphones for tourist purposes is nothing more than a reflection of the day-to-day of citizens, who use smartphones for everything (relationships, entertainment, etc.) [28]. As it happens with the use of other ICTs in the field of tourism, this technological dependence has psychological impacts that translate into negative and positive feelings [38, 60–63] that in turn shape the perception of the

Based on the previous arguments, destination marketing organizations (DMOs)

should consider the negative effects of smartphone use, particularly in relation to young users [68–71], who are often victims of related addictions and disorders such as nomophobia, i.e., the irrational fear of not being able to use the smartphone [72–74]. In this regard, it is worth noting the impact that the type of activities performed with smartphones and the context on which it is performed have on the greater or lesser degree of anxiety or stress caused by not being able to use the smartphone [71]. In this sense, in times of loneliness and boredom, for example, not being able to interact with other people, mainly through social networks, or to search for information or use entertainment apps, can trigger an acute case of nomophobia [68, 70, 71, 74]. These effects underline the importance that people, particularly the youngest sector of the population, attach to the main values of the web 2.0 model that have given smartphones their protagonist role: multidirectional

communication and universal access to information [1, 10, 24, 25, 40].

Hence the need is to identify the main uses given to smartphones for tourist purposes according to different generations and the consequent ICTs use habits [36], which is one of the objectives of this study. This information is necessary to successfully integrate smartphones into the digital marketing and communication strategies of tourist destinations. Given the numerous advantages of the communication and experiential potential of these devices [44, 45, 75–79], DMOs cannot ignore the fact that their use can also generate negative emotions and feelings,

**2. Smartphones at the service of the tourist experience**

mouth (WOM) and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) [53–59].

**250**

The sample consists of individuals who meet the following criteria: belong to the Gen Y, own a smartphone, and used it on their last tourist trip. The first section of the survey questionnaire consists of items that verify these criteria to be able to exclude non-suitable respondents and select the final sample.

The questionnaire design, in addition to relying on previous studies and research [31, 84, 85], was validated by two well-known academic and researchers in the tourism sector and by a prestigious company specialized in digital marketing. This ensured the academic and professional validation of the instrument. Following this first review and subsequent correction, the questionnaire was pilot tested on a convenience sample of 50 people who met the same requirements set for the final sample. Based on these results, further adjustments were made to the instrument. The final version of the survey questionnaire was distributed online during May and June 2020. A total of 201 questionnaires were answered and returned, but 10 of them were discarded because the respondents did not meet the sample selection criteria. A total of 191 valid questionnaires were analyzed to achieve the research objectives.

#### **3.2 Measurements constructs**

The survey is structured in three sections. The first one, as mentioned, aims to confirm whether respondents meet the sample selection criteria. It consists of three questions about respondents' age, smartphone ownership and smartphone use in latest trip. In addition, four more questions relating to gender, education level and country of residence were included for a better sociodemographic description of the final sample.

The next two sets consist of two and three closed-ended questions, respectively, that aim to gather quantitative data.

The first of these sets explores emotions and feelings based on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) scale items [85] Respondents were asked to use a 3-point Likert scale to assess the positive or negative feelings they associated to their

smartphone use during the latest trip. Following the scale developed by Watson et al. [85], the list of positive feelings and emotions included in the questionnaire are: interested, distressed, excited, upset, strong, guilty, scared, hostile, enthusiastic and proud. On the other hand, the set of negative feelings and emotions included: irritable, alert, ashamed, inspired, nervous, determined, attentive, jittery, active and afraid. In the scale, which served to indicate to what extent the respondent had felt those feelings and emotions, 1 means "almost never"; 2, "sometimes"; and 3, "almost always". In this set, options 1 and 3 are nuanced because it is possible that specific circumstances unrelated to the tourist experience (receiving good news, losing internet connection, etc.) may translate into feelings and emotions that do not describe faithfully the respondent's state of mind regarding smartphone use during their trip.

Respondents' smartphone use for tourism purposes is examined in the last section using the scale developed by Tussyadiah and Zach [84], which focuses on a series of activities that are valued using a scale that ranges from "never" to "always." The questionnaire includes the following three activities: navigation, information search and learn about destination, similarly to Lalicic and Weismayer [31] but using a 3-point Likert scale.
