social media influencers and tourism

Strathclyde Business School - Guest Lecture on Social Media Influencers and Tourism

Introduction

  • Welcome to the lecture on Social Media Influencers and Tourism presented by Dr. K. Tomazos (k.Tomazos@strath.ac.uk).

Tourism and Innovation

  • Schumpeterian Perspective:

    • Individuals disrupt market equilibrium as 'agents of chaos.'

    • They act as creative destructors that change customer tastes and preferences.

    • Referenced Literature: Tomazos et al. (2017), Schumpeter (1934).

  • Technology-Push/Demand-Pull Paradigm:

    • Describes the interplay of science, technology, and business environment as key drivers of innovation.

    • Referenced Literature: Buhalis (2000), Coombs et al. (1987), Stamboulis and Skayannis (2003).

  • Marshallian Innovation Systems or Clusters Approach:

    • Focus on marketing innovations alongside new products, services, and social innovation.

    • Highlights importance of organizational structures including clustering and cooperation.

    • Referenced Literature: Hjalager (2010), Guttentag (2015), several others.

New Challenges and New Dilemmas

  • The rise of platforms like Instagram and TikTok and social media travel influencers introduce new challenges and dilemmas:

    • Possibility of long-term consequences for tourism and practitioners.

    • Emerging academic literature addressing these issues (Barbe and Neuburger, 2021; Chatzigeorgiou, 2017; Guerreiro et al., 2019).

    • Influencer marketing represents a shift in marketing innovation amidst digital growth and tourism marketing.

A Familiar Pattern

  • Critical tourism theories suggest specific tourist types discover destinations, influencing others:

    • Example: Cohen’s (1972) tourist types - 'explorer', 'drifter', 'organised mass tourist', 'independent mass tourist'.

    • Travel influencers draw parallels here by facilitating discovery of less-visited destinations.

Not All Fun and Games

  • New risks to sustainability of tourist destinations:

    • Bandwagon effect and fear of missing out (FOMO) as proposed by Dogan (2019), Kang and Ma (2020), Kuwashima (2016).

    • Increased competition leading to pressures on destinations and environmental degradation.

    • Contagion Effect: Demand rises due to others supporting an entity, referencing Leibenstein (1950) and Schmitt-Beck (2008).

In this Lecture

  • Overview of the journey:

    • From word-of-mouth (WOM) to electronic WOM (e-WOM) to influencer marketing.

    • Exploration of the impact of travel influencers and trends from Instagram within the context of sustainability.

    • Discussion regarding sustainability in travel influencing, including response to COVID-19.

From Influencer Marketing to Travel Influencers

Influencer Marketing

  • Definition: Incorporation of branded content in social media posts for rewards.

    • Influencers create engaging content (text, images, videos) as paid endorsements from brands.

    • Statistics: In a 2016 survey, 40% of Twitter users reported purchasing products mentioned by influencers (Karp, 2016).

    • Benefits for companies: Cost-effective strategy that engages large consumer segments and bypasses ad-blocking technologies (Schwartz, 2017).

Communicating Authenticity

  • Influencer endorsements perceived as forms of WOM communication, appreciated by consumers:

    • Trust in recommendations from personal connections exceeds traditional advertising (Jin et al., 2019).

    • Increase in consumer power for sharing views through e-WOM.

    • Challenge in distinguishing commercial content from user-generated content (UGC).

  • Effects of perceived authenticity and credibility: Influencers must present themselves as relatable rather than distant celebrities (Boerman et al., 2017; Lueck, 2015).

Blurring the Lines Between Content Types

  • Influencers make endorsements appear organic, boosting relatability and credibility:

    • Consumers often trust those perceived to be similar in lifestyle (Uzunoğlu and Kip, 2014).

    • Many influencers cultivate niche audiences with expertise in specific areas (Carpenter et al., 2018).

Bending the Rules

  • Promotion Disclosure Guidelines by FTC (2020): Influencers must disclose connections using hashtags (e.g., 'ad') in initial post lines.

    • Failure in compliance may lead to insufficient advertisement recognition from consumers.

  • Observations of influencers hiding disclosures in a multitude of hashtags (Carter, 2016).