Social Media Gratifications and Gastronomy Destination Choice: The Mediating Role of Pre-Visit Destination Impression

In this study, we use gratifications (U&G) theory to explore how social media shapes Millennials’ gastronomic destination choices. Rather than treating social media influence as uniform, we identify three key gratifications obtained from gastronomy-related content: experiential–inspirational, utilitarian decision-making, and information search and assurance. The study investigates how these gratifications directly and indirectly affect destination choice through pre-visit destination impressions. Data were collected from 418 Chinese Millennials. Validity of measurements was confirmed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and reliability tests, with hypotheses tested using Hayes’ PROCESS Model 4. Findings indicate that pre-visit destination impression significantly predicts destination choice and mediates the influence of all three gratifications. Experiential–inspirational gratification has the greatest overall impact; experiential–inspirational and information search and assurance gratifications operate through both directly and indirectly, while utilitarian decision-making gratification operates primarily through pre-visit impressions. By integrating U&G theory with pre-visit impressions, this study offers a novel pathway-specific explanation of social media’s role in gastronomic destination choice, suggesting that different gratifications activate distinct psychological mechanisms rather than a uniform process. It also advances destination-choice research by highlighting pre-visit impression as a rapid evaluative mechanism linking digital gratification and behavioral decision.