Smart technology and happy tourists: a meta-analysis

Smart tourism technologies (STT) interwoven into various stages of tourism enrich the travel experience and lead to tourist satisfaction. Knowledge of critical antecedents of tourist satisfaction can enable destination managers to design suitable technological interventions. Past studies used diverse theoretical frameworks and measurement approaches, resulted in inconsistent findings on the impacts of STT attributes on satisfaction. Through meta-analysis, our study established how motivational factors from the Uses & Gratification theory (U&G), technological factors from the Information Systems success model (ISS), and experiential factors from expectation confirmation theory (ECT) affect tourist satisfaction. Empirical evidence from 45 independent studies from 43 articles comprising 15,750 individual responses was integrated into the meta-analysis. Gratification factors of usefulness (beta = 0.367) and informativeness (beta = 0.336), technological factors of information quality (beta = 0.365) and service quality (beta = 0.295), and experiential factor of expectation confirmation (beta = 0.532) emerged as key antecedents of STT satisfaction. The study also uncovered the interaction between the STT attributes and their effect on satisfaction. The generalized effect sizes and the interaction analysis offer nuanced insights, revealing critical implications for effective tourism management strategies. These findings provide valuable guidance for tourism practitioners, highlighting key aspects of STTs and their dynamic interactions to enhance tourist satisfaction.