Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Li Xie-Carson is a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland Business School, Australia. She has over eight years of industry experience in tourism and hospitality prior to her PhD research. Li’s current research interests lie in influencer marketing and the use of virtual influencers in tourism.

Dr. Pierre Benckendorff is an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean of The University of Queensland Graduate School. His research interests include technology and visitor experiences, tourism education and scholarship, and Gen Y and Gen Z.

Dr. Karen Hughes is an Associate Professor at The University of Queensland Business School, Australia. Her research interests include interpretation and environmental education, wildlife tourism, heritage tourism, visitor behavior and sustainable tourism.

Abstract (150 Words)

Virtual influencer (VI) marketing is a growing phenomenon in many industries, including entertainment, fashion, beauty and retail. Despite several apparent benefits and opportunities, the adoption of VI marketing in tourism is still in its infancy. This research aims to explore key source and content factors that drive Instagram users’ engagement with VIs in the tourism context. Five virtual focus group interviews with photo elicitation will be conducted through Zoom among Instagram users. Theoretically, this research will expand the current knowledge of social media engagement and tourism marketing theory. It will develop a conceptual framework mapping the key source and content factors that influence Instagram users’ engagement with VIs in tourism. Practically, the results will primarily assist tourism practitioners and VI agencies in understanding and leveraging Instagram users’ engagement with VIs in the tourism domain.

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Fake it to make it: Exploring Instagram users’ engagement with virtual influencers in tourism

Virtual influencer (VI) marketing is a growing phenomenon in many industries, including entertainment, fashion, beauty and retail. Despite several apparent benefits and opportunities, the adoption of VI marketing in tourism is still in its infancy. This research aims to explore key source and content factors that drive Instagram users’ engagement with VIs in the tourism context. Five virtual focus group interviews with photo elicitation will be conducted through Zoom among Instagram users. Theoretically, this research will expand the current knowledge of social media engagement and tourism marketing theory. It will develop a conceptual framework mapping the key source and content factors that influence Instagram users’ engagement with VIs in tourism. Practically, the results will primarily assist tourism practitioners and VI agencies in understanding and leveraging Instagram users’ engagement with VIs in the tourism domain.