Location

Gran Canaria

Participation

Attend the conference at Gran Canaria in person.

Type of Submission

Paper Presentation

Short Abstract

A significant portion of today’s marketing is done through social media influencers, that is, through bloggers with established online credibility in a certain area who are recognized and followed by a sizable online audience. In the travel and hospitality industry, the influencer marketing is primarily done through Instagram due to its emphasis on visual images rather than texts. Covid-19 related travel restrictions and shrinking social media advertisement in travel industry have heavily impacted travel influencers, reducing their income and forcing many out of business. We present the outcomes of a study of the top 150 online travel influencers. The analysis is based on 11,000 photographs and texts published in two time periods before and during COVID-19 epidemics. We found that COVID-19 has induced transformative changes in the influencers’ online behavior reflected in changes in their posting frequency, themes, and expressed emotions.

Previous Versions

May 1 2022

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Instagram travel influencers coping with covid-19 travel disruption

Gran Canaria

A significant portion of today’s marketing is done through social media influencers, that is, through bloggers with established online credibility in a certain area who are recognized and followed by a sizable online audience. In the travel and hospitality industry, the influencer marketing is primarily done through Instagram due to its emphasis on visual images rather than texts. Covid-19 related travel restrictions and shrinking social media advertisement in travel industry have heavily impacted travel influencers, reducing their income and forcing many out of business. We present the outcomes of a study of the top 150 online travel influencers. The analysis is based on 11,000 photographs and texts published in two time periods before and during COVID-19 epidemics. We found that COVID-19 has induced transformative changes in the influencers’ online behavior reflected in changes in their posting frequency, themes, and expressed emotions.

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/itsa/ITSA2022/ITSA2022/42