I like you, or I like what you say? Effect of influencer on tourists’ behaviours

Abstract

ABSTRACT This work analyses the effect of influencers on tourists’ behavioural intentions, considering both how tourists process persuasive information and the relationship between the vlogger and receiver. Three theories are applied: the Information Adoption Model, social identity theory and parasocial interaction theory. An empirical study was conducted based on an online survey of 412 subjects. The results confirmed that tourists’ future behaviours towards a destination are determined by their attitudes towards the vlogger’s messages, which depend on the perceived usefulness of the message which, in turn, is based on its argumentative quality and the vlogger’s credibility. Future behaviour towards the source is also influenced by the recipient’s attitude towards the message and by the sender’s relationship with the recipient, through parasocial interaction and identification. Thus, this research contributes to expand the extant knowledge on the vlog phenomenon in tourism by analysing jointly message and source factors as well as their impact on tourists’ future behaviour, providing useful practical implications for destinations and vloggers alike.