Exploring hidden topics on hotel Facebook fan pages before and during the COVID-19 crisis

Purpose – This study analyzes the way that firm-generated content (FGC) was adapted in the accommodation sector through hotel chains’ Facebook posts at a time of crisis. Specifically, this research aims to: (1) explore hidden topics in hotel chains’ FGC; (2) classify topics according to their promotional or non-promotional content; and (3) compare topics during the first months of the COVID-19 crisis and the same months of 2019. Theoretical framework – The method/theoretical approach used in this research is social network analysis. Design/methodology/approach – We used content analysis to examine 1,317 Facebook posts from the five hotel chains with the greatest presence in Spain. NodeXL software was used to create a semantic network to reveal the relationships between the ideas embedded in the text collection. Findings – 14 latent topics were found in each period, including promotional and non-promotional content. Non-promotional topics increased from one third in 2019 to more than half in 2020, and the most relevant topic in 2020 was “Competitions”.