Abstract
The social media have become important tools for the communication of destinations and their brands. Multiple studies have demonstrated that the interactivity generated in this communication leads to greater engagement and better brand image among users [Munar and Jacobsen (Tourism Manag 43:46–54, 2014)], but the aim of this study is to unveil what contents generate the most reactions among users and if the communication of brands and their emotional values also generate reactions. The results show that the most destination-specific and identifying themes/attributes and values are the ones generating most reactions and interactivity, although very often destinations communicate generic values with which all destinations identify. Moreover, it is shown that the communication of emotional values and brands also generates reactions and interactivity.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aaker, J. L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research, 34(3), 347–356.
Agarwal, S., Mondal, A., & Nath, A. (2011). Social media - The new corporate playground. International Journal of Research and Reviews in Computer Science, 2(3), 696–700.
Baloglu, S., & McCleary, K. (1999). A model of destination image formation. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(4), 868–897.
Beerli, A., & Martin, J. D. (2004). Factors influencing destination image. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(3), 657–681.
Buhalis, D., & Law, R. (2008). Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet -The state of eTourism research. Tourism Management, 29(4), 609–623.
Del Chiappa, G. (2011). Trustworthiness of travel 2.0 applications and their influence on tourist behaviour: An empirical investigation in Italy. In R. Law, M. Fuchs, & F. Ricci (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2011 (pp. 331–342). New York, NY: Springer.
Govers, R., & Go, F. M. (2003). Deconstructing destination image in the information age. Information Technology and Tourism, 6(1), 13–29.
Govers, R., Go, F. M., & Kumar, K. (2007). Promoting tourism destination image. Journal of Travel Research, 46(1), 15–23.
Hays, S., Page, S. J., & Buhalis, D. (2013). Social media as a destination marketing tool: Its use by national tourism organisations. Current Issues in Tourism, 16(3), 211–239.
Huertas, A. (2014). La comunicación de los territorios, los destinos y sus marcas. Guía práctica de aplicación desde las relaciones públicas. Barcelona: DIRCOM-UOC.
Huertas, A. & Fernández Cavia, J. (2006). Ciudades en la web: Usabilidad e interactividad de las páginas oficiales de los destinos turísticos. In TURITEC 2006 (pp. 403–422). VI Congreso Nacional de Turismo y Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones. Málaga: Universidad de Málaga.
Huertas, A. & Marine-Roig, E. (2014). Uso y utilidades de las herramientas de análisis online para la evaluación de la comunicación de las marcas de destino a través de los social media [Use and utilities of online analysis tools for communication evaluation of destination brands in social media]. Sphera Publica, June(Special issue), 117–134.
Inversini, A., & Buhalis, D. (2009). Information convergence in the long tail: The case of tourism destination information. In W. Hopken, U. Gretzel, & R. Law (Eds.), Information and communication technologies in tourism 2009 (pp. 381–392). Vienna: Springer.
Jacobsen, J. K. S., & Munar, A. M. (2012). Tourist information search and destination choice in a digital age. Tourism Management Perspectives, 1(2012), 39–47.
Jung, T. H., & Butler, R. (2000). Perceptions of marketing managers of the effectiveness of the Internet in tourism and hospitality. Information Technology & Tourism, 3(3), 167–176.
Ko, H., Cho, C.-H., & Roberts, M. S. (2005). Internet uses and gratifications. A structural equation model of interactive advertising. Journal of Advertising, 34(2), 57–70.
Laroche, M., Habibi, M. R., & Richard, M.-O. (2013). To be or not to be in social media: How brand loyalty is affected by social media? International Journal of Information Management, 33, 76–82.
Lawson, F., & Baud-Bovy, M. (1977). Tourism and recreational development. London: Architectural Press.
Leung, D., Law, R., van Hoof, H., & Buhalis, D. (2013). Social media in tourism and hospitality: A literature review. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 30(1–2), 3–22.
Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E., & Pan, B. (2008). Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management. Tourism Management, 29(3), 458–468.
Lovejoy, K., & Saxton, G. D. (2012). Information, community, and action: How nonprofit organizations use social media. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17(3), 337–353.
Mandelli, A., & Cantoni, L. (2010). Social media impact on corporate reputation: Proposing a new methodological approach. Cuadernos de Informacion, 27, 61–74.
Marchiori, E., & Cantoni, L. (2012). The online reputation construct: Does it matter for the tourism domain? A literature review on destinations’ online reputation. Journal of Information Technology & Tourism, 13(3), 139–159.
Marine-Roig, E. (2013). From the projected to the transmitted image: The 2.0 construction of tourist destination image and identity in Catalonia. Ph.D. dissertation. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10803/135006
Morgan, N. J., Pritchard, A., & Piggott, R. (2003). Destination branding and the role of the stakeholders: The case of New Zealand. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 9(3), 285–299.
Munar, A. M. (2011). Tourist-created content: Rethinking destination branding. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 5(3), 291–305.
Munar, A. M., & Jacobsen, J. K. S. (2014). Motivations for sharing tourism experiences through social media. Tourism Management, 43, 46–54.
Nusair, K., Bilgihan, A., Okumus, F., & Cobanoglu, C. (2013). Generation Y travelers’ commitment to online network websites. Tourism Management, 35, 13–22.
Opoku, R. A. (2006). Towards a methodological design for evaluating online brand positioning. Doctoral dissertation 2006:61. Retrieved from http://pure.ltu.se/portal
Saffer, A. J., Sommerfeldt, E. J., & Taylor, M. (2013). The effects of organizational Twitter interactivity on organization–public relationships. Public Relations Review, 39(3), 213–215.
Schmallegger, D., & Carson, D. (2010). Destination image projection on consumer generated content websites (CGC): A case study of the Flinders Ranges. Journal of Information Technology & Tourism, 11(2), 111–127.
Tussyadiah, I. P., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2009). Mediating tourist experiences: Access to places via shared videos. Annals of Tourism Research, 36(1), 24–40.
Walther, J. B., & Jang, J. (2012). Communication processes in participatory websites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 18(1), 2–15.
Xiang, Z., & Gretzel, U. (2010). Role of social media in online travel information search. Tourism Management, 31(2), 179–188.
Xiang, Z., Wober, K., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2008). Representation of the online tourism domain in search engines. Journal of Travel Research, 47(2), 137–150.
Yoo, K. H., & Gretzel, U. (2011). Antecedents and impacts of trust in travel-related consumer-generated media. Information Technologies & Tourism, 12(2), 139–152.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Spain’s Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [Grant id.: CSO2012-34824 “Uso e influencia de los social media y la comunicación 2.0 en la toma de decisiones turísticas y en la imagen de marca de los destinos”].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Huertas, A., Marine-Roig, E. (2015). Destination Brand Communication Through the Social Media: What Contents Trigger Most Reactions of Users?. In: Tussyadiah, I., Inversini, A. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14342-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14343-9
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)