The Impact of Social Media Influencers Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina on Tourism Visit Intentions across Millennials and Zoomers Using a Hierarchical Likelihood Structural Equation Model

Background: In this paper, we examine how social media influencers can influence visit intention, especially in the case of Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina, a top influencer who by 2 September 2021 had reached 21.3 M subscribers on YouTube and 54.9 m followers on Instagram with an engagement rate of 0.42%. The focus of this study is Generation Y or Millennials (born 1981–1996) and Generation Z (born 1997–2012). Design/methodology/approach: Snowball sampling was performed to arrive at a representative group of Millennials. Data analysis was performed using hierarchical likelihood via structural equation modeling. Findings: The study results are helpful for a comprehensive understanding of factors affecting visit intention. Effects of the study results summary, tourists from Generations Y and Z are thriving within the internet of things and the digital age, an era in which information can be accessed via various forms of technology across multiple platforms. Practical implications: We discuss and identify the relative importance of each factor through the use of logistics with variational approximation and structural equation models using hierarchical likelihood. Originality: The technique we use is an integrated and extended version of the structural equation model with hierarchical likelihood estimation and features selection using logistics variational approximation.