The impact of social media influencers on destination preferences: A cross-generation comparison

Abstract

Social media has gradually transformed into a tool for tourism marketing because of its widespread use and its sales-oriented reflections on purchasing decisions. Hence, almost all tourism businesses and destination management organizations (DMOs) have initiated to attract potential tourists via social media or social media influencers (SMIs). Though more and more publications have emerged to draw attention to the significance of SMI on purchase decisions, the number of research focusing on SMIs effect on destination choice still needs to be furthered. From this point of view, this study aims to evaluate how social media influencers affect travellers’ preference for destinations across generations. The data was gathered from 137 followers who follow social media influencers and are over 18. In the study, percentage, frequency, mean, and standard deviation values were employed in the descriptive data analysis, while correlation analysis was used in the relationship measurement tests, and regression analysis was conducted in the hypothesis tests. As a result, it has been inferred that the perception levels of participants towards social media influencers vary across generations and that social media influencers are an essential determinant for destination preference. It has also been concluded that the effect of social media influencers on destination preference differs in the context of X, Y, and Z generations. Thus, this study makes considerably advances the literature by revealing the importance of generation-based social media marketing and emphasizing how SMIs could impact destination preferences.