Pub Date : 2023-12-29DOI: 10.1177/00472875231217898
C. Zhang, Lawrence Fong, Scott McCabe
Over the last decade, political tensions between Hong Kong and mainland China over the territory’s status, culminating with the 2019/20 pro-democracy demonstrations, spilled over into tourism, with rising antagonism among “HongKongers” toward Chinese tourists. Central to these strained relationships are complex identity tensions that position HongKongers as distinct from mainland Chinese, despite being essentially “compatriots.” The sense of belonging to a social group is derived from the interactions that distinguish “us” from “others,” whilst the Chinese have been signified as “others” in this scenario, their perspectives on the issue are poorly understood. This study utilizes social identity theory to unpack these identity positions. Our results uncover changes in Chinese tourists’ reflections on perceived othering they experienced by HongKongers and how identity plays a significant role in redefining relationships between hosts and guests.
{"title":"Intergroup Identity Conflict in Tourism: The Voice of the Tourist","authors":"C. Zhang, Lawrence Fong, Scott McCabe","doi":"10.1177/00472875231217898","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231217898","url":null,"abstract":"Over the last decade, political tensions between Hong Kong and mainland China over the territory’s status, culminating with the 2019/20 pro-democracy demonstrations, spilled over into tourism, with rising antagonism among “HongKongers” toward Chinese tourists. Central to these strained relationships are complex identity tensions that position HongKongers as distinct from mainland Chinese, despite being essentially “compatriots.” The sense of belonging to a social group is derived from the interactions that distinguish “us” from “others,” whilst the Chinese have been signified as “others” in this scenario, their perspectives on the issue are poorly understood. This study utilizes social identity theory to unpack these identity positions. Our results uncover changes in Chinese tourists’ reflections on perceived othering they experienced by HongKongers and how identity plays a significant role in redefining relationships between hosts and guests.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139144427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-29DOI: 10.1177/00472875231219240
Abhinav Sharma, María Jesús Santa-María, J. Nicolau
Promotions are frequently deployed by firms in service intensive industries like tourism as a way to boost numbers like visitation and occupancy in times when excess capacity may be anticipated. While promotions may indeed augment revenues and other accounting measures commonly used by tourism firms to assess the success of marketing interventions, the impact of these sales tools on long-run finance-based indicators remains largely unexplored. Exploiting a rich dataset consisting of over 300 corporate level hotel promotions spanning nearly three decades, this study shows that promotions can be detrimental to long run performance of tourism firms. This erosion of the market value is particularly acute for promotions that involve tangible monetary components, such as price discounts. While this result supports the tenets of the hierarchy-of-effects theory and prospect theory, the observed effects of the tangible component of sales promotion entail an extension of these theoretical approaches to an intangible environment.
{"title":"The Effect of Tangible Promotions on an Intangible Environment","authors":"Abhinav Sharma, María Jesús Santa-María, J. Nicolau","doi":"10.1177/00472875231219240","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231219240","url":null,"abstract":"Promotions are frequently deployed by firms in service intensive industries like tourism as a way to boost numbers like visitation and occupancy in times when excess capacity may be anticipated. While promotions may indeed augment revenues and other accounting measures commonly used by tourism firms to assess the success of marketing interventions, the impact of these sales tools on long-run finance-based indicators remains largely unexplored. Exploiting a rich dataset consisting of over 300 corporate level hotel promotions spanning nearly three decades, this study shows that promotions can be detrimental to long run performance of tourism firms. This erosion of the market value is particularly acute for promotions that involve tangible monetary components, such as price discounts. While this result supports the tenets of the hierarchy-of-effects theory and prospect theory, the observed effects of the tangible component of sales promotion entail an extension of these theoretical approaches to an intangible environment.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139147502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-28DOI: 10.1177/00472875231214733
Daisy X. F. Fan, Dimitrios Buhalis, Evangelia Fragkaki, Yun-Ru Tsai
Senior tourists have their own travel behaviors and preferences and require specific resources from the tourism industry and the broader society. This study adopts customer-dominant logic to understand how participating in tourism activities can support seniors in co-creating values toward active aging. Interviews were conducted with 31 senior tourists and 16 tourism and hospitality service providers. Six value themes were identified from the interviews, namely, enjoyment, connectedness, mental vitality, independence, sense of belonging, and self-esteem. The six values were categorized into functional, social, and spiritual dimensions. A value co-creation nexus was developed with continuum- and development-oriented active aging as the two extremes. This nexus highlighted the differentiated efforts exerted by co-creators to create value and identified the value co-creation routines of stakeholders, their corresponding values, and their facilitators. Value co-creation activities were introduced into active aging with tourism as the context. The findings of this study can support the management of tourism services, promote inclusiveness in society, and aid in government policy making.
{"title":"Achieving Senior Tourists’ Active Aging Through Value Co–creation: A Customer-Dominant Logic Perspective","authors":"Daisy X. F. Fan, Dimitrios Buhalis, Evangelia Fragkaki, Yun-Ru Tsai","doi":"10.1177/00472875231214733","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231214733","url":null,"abstract":"Senior tourists have their own travel behaviors and preferences and require specific resources from the tourism industry and the broader society. This study adopts customer-dominant logic to understand how participating in tourism activities can support seniors in co-creating values toward active aging. Interviews were conducted with 31 senior tourists and 16 tourism and hospitality service providers. Six value themes were identified from the interviews, namely, enjoyment, connectedness, mental vitality, independence, sense of belonging, and self-esteem. The six values were categorized into functional, social, and spiritual dimensions. A value co-creation nexus was developed with continuum- and development-oriented active aging as the two extremes. This nexus highlighted the differentiated efforts exerted by co-creators to create value and identified the value co-creation routines of stakeholders, their corresponding values, and their facilitators. Value co-creation activities were introduced into active aging with tourism as the context. The findings of this study can support the management of tourism services, promote inclusiveness in society, and aid in government policy making.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139149274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-28DOI: 10.1177/00472875231215017
Chenggang Hua, Shu Cole, Ye Zhang, Weixuan Wang, Haoai Zhao
Despite needing more support in tourism, individuals with mobility impairments consistently show strong travel motivation, regardless of their physical challenges. This study utilizes self-determination theory and employs a sequential mixed-methods approach to delve into the role of needed support in driving travel motivation and to understand the intrinsic processes at play. From 39 interviews, a qualitative analysis was conducted, leading to the development of a scale specifically designed for those with mobility impairments. Further quantitative research was undertaken to refine this scale and evaluate the proposed model. By comparing and integrating qualitative and quantitative results, the study provides deeper insights. This investigation not only challenges prevailing notions within self-determination theory but also emphasizes the pivotal role of needed support. It unveils unique motivational drivers for those with mobility impairments in tourism contexts, advocating for scholars, industry professionals, and policymakers to reconsider their views and champion more inclusive practices.
{"title":"Exploring Needed Support as a Motivational Factor for Travelers with Mobility Impairments: A Sequential Mixed-Methods Exploration","authors":"Chenggang Hua, Shu Cole, Ye Zhang, Weixuan Wang, Haoai Zhao","doi":"10.1177/00472875231215017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231215017","url":null,"abstract":"Despite needing more support in tourism, individuals with mobility impairments consistently show strong travel motivation, regardless of their physical challenges. This study utilizes self-determination theory and employs a sequential mixed-methods approach to delve into the role of needed support in driving travel motivation and to understand the intrinsic processes at play. From 39 interviews, a qualitative analysis was conducted, leading to the development of a scale specifically designed for those with mobility impairments. Further quantitative research was undertaken to refine this scale and evaluate the proposed model. By comparing and integrating qualitative and quantitative results, the study provides deeper insights. This investigation not only challenges prevailing notions within self-determination theory but also emphasizes the pivotal role of needed support. It unveils unique motivational drivers for those with mobility impairments in tourism contexts, advocating for scholars, industry professionals, and policymakers to reconsider their views and champion more inclusive practices.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139150827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Are social media posts with emoji more engaging? Guided by the media richness theory, this study explores the relationship between visual (i.e., emoji) and textual content, and how they collectively impact user engagement with peer-to-peer accommodation brands. A three-stage sequential design using naturalist data, including text mining, frequent/rare itemset mining, and one-way ANOVA, was used. This study revealed that the combination of { Travel Tips and Inspiration,[Formula: see text]} and { Interaction and Motivation,[Formula: see text]} tended to result in an increased amount of likes and shares in social media posts. By theoretically revealing and empirically examining the complex relationship between verbal and visual content, this study enriches the theoretical understanding of media richness in tourism brands. Practically, this study provides actionable guidelines for tourism brands to increase user engagement by effectively using visual-verbal content.
{"title":"When Texts Meet Emoji: A Multi-Stage Study of Tourism Brands","authors":"Xiaowei Wang, Mingming Cheng, Jingjie Zhu, Ruochen Jiang","doi":"10.1177/00472875231203396","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231203396","url":null,"abstract":"Are social media posts with emoji more engaging? Guided by the media richness theory, this study explores the relationship between visual (i.e., emoji) and textual content, and how they collectively impact user engagement with peer-to-peer accommodation brands. A three-stage sequential design using naturalist data, including text mining, frequent/rare itemset mining, and one-way ANOVA, was used. This study revealed that the combination of { Travel Tips and Inspiration,[Formula: see text]} and { Interaction and Motivation,[Formula: see text]} tended to result in an increased amount of likes and shares in social media posts. By theoretically revealing and empirically examining the complex relationship between verbal and visual content, this study enriches the theoretical understanding of media richness in tourism brands. Practically, this study provides actionable guidelines for tourism brands to increase user engagement by effectively using visual-verbal content.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139151002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-28DOI: 10.1177/00472875231210817
Lingxue Zhan, Mingming Cheng, Jingjie Zhu, Xiaowei Wang
Using a sequential research design combining image analytics and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), this research examines Beijing’s projected destination image and its impacts on social media engagement on Instagram. Deep learning algorithms and convolutional neural networks were used to analyze the images. The image analytic findings show that Beijing’s projected destination image includes: (1) multiple urban and country landscapes; (2) a mixture of modernity and tradition; (3) a range of activities in a dynamic city and (4) cuisine—a variety of traditional Chinese food. QCA identified three paths that lead to high engagement, including “building” and “sky,” “building” and “event,” “sky,” and “event.” This research advances the destination image literature by empirically establishing the relationship between destination image labels and social media engagement. Further, it offers a new configurational perspective for constructing projected destination image by delineating how DMOs effectively increase social media engagement through image semantic content configurations.
{"title":"Projected Destination Image of Beijing on Instagram: A Sequential Research Design","authors":"Lingxue Zhan, Mingming Cheng, Jingjie Zhu, Xiaowei Wang","doi":"10.1177/00472875231210817","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231210817","url":null,"abstract":"Using a sequential research design combining image analytics and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), this research examines Beijing’s projected destination image and its impacts on social media engagement on Instagram. Deep learning algorithms and convolutional neural networks were used to analyze the images. The image analytic findings show that Beijing’s projected destination image includes: (1) multiple urban and country landscapes; (2) a mixture of modernity and tradition; (3) a range of activities in a dynamic city and (4) cuisine—a variety of traditional Chinese food. QCA identified three paths that lead to high engagement, including “building” and “sky,” “building” and “event,” “sky,” and “event.” This research advances the destination image literature by empirically establishing the relationship between destination image labels and social media engagement. Further, it offers a new configurational perspective for constructing projected destination image by delineating how DMOs effectively increase social media engagement through image semantic content configurations.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139149191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-28DOI: 10.1177/00472875231214500
B. B. Dedeoğlu, N. Colmekcioglu, F. Okumus
This article examines the relationships between consumer-generated content, travel motivation, desire to visit a destination, destination visit intention, and willingness to pay more. This article also analyzes the moderating effect of envy types on these relationships. We collected data from 414 participants in the US. According to the research findings, importance attached to participant sharing (IPS) is a predictor of escape and novelty motivation, while importance attached to non-participant sharing (INPS) is a predictor of exciting experience, novelty, prestige, and self-development motivations. Desire to visit the destination also positively affects destination visit intention and willingness to pay more. Benign envy has a moderating effect on relationships between INPS/IPS and prestige motivation. On the other hand, malicious envy has only a moderating effect on the relationship between INPS and escape motivation. This study reveals that consumer-generated content (CGC) strongly influences intrinsic travel motives. This study also explains how CGC influences attitudes and behaviors in the context of self-determination theory.
{"title":"Do Envy and Consumer-Generated Content Boost Travel Motivations?","authors":"B. B. Dedeoğlu, N. Colmekcioglu, F. Okumus","doi":"10.1177/00472875231214500","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231214500","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the relationships between consumer-generated content, travel motivation, desire to visit a destination, destination visit intention, and willingness to pay more. This article also analyzes the moderating effect of envy types on these relationships. We collected data from 414 participants in the US. According to the research findings, importance attached to participant sharing (IPS) is a predictor of escape and novelty motivation, while importance attached to non-participant sharing (INPS) is a predictor of exciting experience, novelty, prestige, and self-development motivations. Desire to visit the destination also positively affects destination visit intention and willingness to pay more. Benign envy has a moderating effect on relationships between INPS/IPS and prestige motivation. On the other hand, malicious envy has only a moderating effect on the relationship between INPS and escape motivation. This study reveals that consumer-generated content (CGC) strongly influences intrinsic travel motives. This study also explains how CGC influences attitudes and behaviors in the context of self-determination theory.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139150312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-14DOI: 10.1177/00472875231217331
Ying Qu, Qing Zhou, Yangfeng Guo, Hongyan Yang
The concept of destination attachment originates from the “people-people” attachment research but has not been investigated from this perspective, resulting in a substantial research gap. This study applied the concept of adult attachment to conceptualize, classify, and measure destination attachment. Different formation mechanisms, the effect range of the destination attachment representations of first-time and repeat tourists, and the relationships between the destination attachment representations and general attachment representations of tourists were examined. The findings were in line with the theoretical expectations. This study is innovative because it expands the research scope of destination attachment, proposing the necessity of developing formative measurement dimensions of destination attachment and elucidating the meanings of the relationship between the attachment representations of first-time and repeat tourists in tourist loyalty research. Managerially, this study has practical value for shaping destination attachment and attracting/cultivating repeat tourists.
{"title":"Differences in Destination Attachment Representations of First-time and Repeat Tourists","authors":"Ying Qu, Qing Zhou, Yangfeng Guo, Hongyan Yang","doi":"10.1177/00472875231217331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231217331","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of destination attachment originates from the “people-people” attachment research but has not been investigated from this perspective, resulting in a substantial research gap. This study applied the concept of adult attachment to conceptualize, classify, and measure destination attachment. Different formation mechanisms, the effect range of the destination attachment representations of first-time and repeat tourists, and the relationships between the destination attachment representations and general attachment representations of tourists were examined. The findings were in line with the theoretical expectations. This study is innovative because it expands the research scope of destination attachment, proposing the necessity of developing formative measurement dimensions of destination attachment and elucidating the meanings of the relationship between the attachment representations of first-time and repeat tourists in tourist loyalty research. Managerially, this study has practical value for shaping destination attachment and attracting/cultivating repeat tourists.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138972235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-14DOI: 10.1177/00472875231213992
S. Rasoolimanesh, M. Gannon, Babak Taheri, Josip Mikulić
Across travel and tourism services research, studies investigating “customer rage” typically prioritize the direct point-of-consumption, often within airport, airline, or hotel contexts. However, the sector is awash with intermediaries (e.g., travel agencies, insurance brokers, booking platforms), which serve as primary points-of-contact capable of shaping customer expectations. Accordingly, the consequences of service failure therein are nuanced and complex. Yet, extant research often portrays service failure as unilateral (i.e., solely the firm in question’s responsibility), overlooking one core demand-side characteristic: the customer’s sense of entitlement. Thus, while this study draws upon the Iranian travel agency setting (as a service intermediary) to assess a model of customer rage, it also explores whether customer entitlement moderates the relationships between customers’ rage emotions, expressions, and behaviors. Doing so, 736 survey responses were analyzed. Findings demonstrate how customer rage emerges in response to service failure, alongside the conditions under which customer entitlement moderates relationships therein.
{"title":"Assessing a Model of Customer Rage: Does Customer Entitlement Moderate Relationships Between Rage Emotions, Expressions and Behaviors?","authors":"S. Rasoolimanesh, M. Gannon, Babak Taheri, Josip Mikulić","doi":"10.1177/00472875231213992","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231213992","url":null,"abstract":"Across travel and tourism services research, studies investigating “customer rage” typically prioritize the direct point-of-consumption, often within airport, airline, or hotel contexts. However, the sector is awash with intermediaries (e.g., travel agencies, insurance brokers, booking platforms), which serve as primary points-of-contact capable of shaping customer expectations. Accordingly, the consequences of service failure therein are nuanced and complex. Yet, extant research often portrays service failure as unilateral (i.e., solely the firm in question’s responsibility), overlooking one core demand-side characteristic: the customer’s sense of entitlement. Thus, while this study draws upon the Iranian travel agency setting (as a service intermediary) to assess a model of customer rage, it also explores whether customer entitlement moderates the relationships between customers’ rage emotions, expressions, and behaviors. Doing so, 736 survey responses were analyzed. Findings demonstrate how customer rage emerges in response to service failure, alongside the conditions under which customer entitlement moderates relationships therein.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138971298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-12DOI: 10.1177/00472875231214727
M. Saleh
This study is the first to apply transaction cost theory to identify optimal influencer marketing strategies for the tourism sector through three content types: hero, hub, and hygiene content. Transaction cost theory posits that stakeholders seek to minimize information search and delivery costs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with different experienced level tourists to measure the effect of influencer attributes and content on inspiration levels. The findings indicate that differentiating content based on targeted personas minimizes transaction costs. Hero content highly motivated specific tourist personas to visit destinations. Hub content provided practical trip planning details. Hygiene content addressed fundamental customer concerns. By framing influencer marketing through the lens of transaction cost economics, this study contributes to the literature by tailoring influencer content (hero, hub, and hygiene content) to meet the specific needs of tourist personas, which managerially can optimize credibility and value while reducing tourism stakeholders’ information search and delivery costs.
{"title":"Advantaging Tourism Through Influencers: Applying Transaction Cost Theory to Recognize Top Hero, Hub, and Hygiene Content Tactics for Tourism Marketing","authors":"M. Saleh","doi":"10.1177/00472875231214727","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231214727","url":null,"abstract":"This study is the first to apply transaction cost theory to identify optimal influencer marketing strategies for the tourism sector through three content types: hero, hub, and hygiene content. Transaction cost theory posits that stakeholders seek to minimize information search and delivery costs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with different experienced level tourists to measure the effect of influencer attributes and content on inspiration levels. The findings indicate that differentiating content based on targeted personas minimizes transaction costs. Hero content highly motivated specific tourist personas to visit destinations. Hub content provided practical trip planning details. Hygiene content addressed fundamental customer concerns. By framing influencer marketing through the lens of transaction cost economics, this study contributes to the literature by tailoring influencer content (hero, hub, and hygiene content) to meet the specific needs of tourist personas, which managerially can optimize credibility and value while reducing tourism stakeholders’ information search and delivery costs.","PeriodicalId":48435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Travel Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2023-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139007313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}