Behind the hashtags: exploring tourists’ motivations in a social media-centred boycott campaign

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drawing on a netnography approach to social media (Instagram and Twitter), our study attempted to reveal the motivations behind potential domestic tourists’ engagement in a boycott campaign of certain controversial accommodations on Hormoz Island, Iran. The investigation resulted in the identification of three primary themes: individual level, boycott target-specific level and prosocial-level motivational attributes. Overall, the article provides an improved understanding of tourists’ boycotting behaviours on social media. The theoretical and practical significance of the research results are discussed, and several approaches for future research are proposed.