How do travel bloggers influence Generation Z‘s travel decisions? An exploratory study through five Italian famous travel bloggers
Keywords:
Generation Z, travel blogger, travel decision making
Abstract
The increasing adoption of new communication channel such as social networks in Generation Z has created new job professional during the last decade: travel bloggers. The aim of this paper is to understand the influence of travel bloggers on Generation Z’s travel decisions. A mixed qualitative and quantitative survey design was employed for this study. Empirical data were drawn from 475 Generation Z’s travellers in Italy, using a purposive sampling technique. The results of this study reveal that travel bloggers for Generation Z’s travel decision making are lightly relevant. This study is amongst the first to empirically investigate the influence of travel bloggers on tourism decision making of Generation Z travellers in the realm of social and mobile business. The paper offers relevant theoretical and managerial implications. First, the paper enriches the travel decision-making Generation Z theory by providing evidence of factors leading to the higher sharing of influence amongst travellers. Second, the paper adds to the literature on Generation Z, demonstrating the individual determinants of influencers sharing videos and photos about products and services in online tourism communities. Thus, building upon the findings of this study, the authors provide some guidelines for travel blogger to promoting destination on social media pages.
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References
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23. Puhringer, S., & Taylor, A. O (2008). A practitioner’s report on blogs as a potential source for destination marketing intelligence. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 14(2), 177–187, https://doi.org/ 10.1177/1356766707087524.
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27. Taheri, B., & Okumus, F. (2024). Conducting mixed methods research. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(3), 995-1004, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2023-1309.
28. Tjuatja, L., Chen, V., Wu, T., Talwalkwar, A., & Neubig, G. (2024). Do LLMs Exhibit Human-like Response Biases? A Case Study in Survey Design. Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 12, 1011–1026, https://doi.org/10.1162/tacl_a_00685.
29. Zikmund, W.G., Babin, B.J., Carr, J.C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods. London: Cencage Learning.
2. Azariah, D.R. (2012). When travel meets tourism: tracing discourse in Tony Wheeler’s blog. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 29(4), 275-291, https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2011.574640.
3. Bank of America, www.bankofamerica.com, Accessed 18 June 2024.
4. Barbe, D., & Neuburger, L. (2021). Generation Z and Digital Influencers in the Tourism Industry. In N. Stylos, R., Rahimi, B., Okumus & S., Williams (Ed.), Generation Z Marketing and Management in Tourism and Hospitality, (pp. 167-192). London: Springer Nature, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70695-1_7.
5. Benasso, S., & Cuzzocrea, V. (2019). Generation Z in Italy: living in a soap bubble. In: C., Scholz, & A., Rennig (Eds.), Generations Z in Europe (The changing context of managing people) (pp. 189-197), Bingley: Emerald Published Limited.
6. Blaer, M., Frost, W., & Laing, J. (2020). The future of travel writing: interactivity, personal branding and power. Tourism Management, 77, 1-10, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.104009.
7. Butcher, K., & Yodsuwan, C. (2024). Building “causal realism” in experimental studies within hospitality and tourism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(1), 259-273, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2022-1187
8. Chandralal, L., Rindfleish, J., & Valenzuela, F. (2014). An application of travel blog narratives to explore memorable tourism experiences. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 20 (6), 680-693, https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2014.925944.
9. Combi C. (2015). Generation Z: their voices, their lives. London: Hutchinson.
10. Duffy, A., & Kang, H.Y.P. (2019). Follow me, I’m famous: travel bloggers’ self-mediated performances of everyday exoticism. Media, Culture and Society, 42(2), 172-190, https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443719853503.
11. Fedrina, K.R., Suhud, U., & Prihadi, D.J. (2021). The role of social media in Generation Z travel decision-making process. London: Routledge.
12. Givi, J., Birg, L., Lowrey, T.M., & Galak, J. (2023). An integrative review of gift-giving research in consumer behavior and marketing. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 33(3), 529-545, https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1318.
13. ISTAT (2009). www.istat.it, accessed 15 July 2024.
14. Jones, M.A., & Reynolds, K.E. (2006). The role of retailer interest on shopping behavior. Journal of Retailing, 82(2), 115-126, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2005.05.001.
15. Law, R., Lei, S.I, Zhang, K., & Lau, A. (2024). Bridging theory-practice gap: a critical reflection on information and communication technology research. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36 (6), 1980-1990, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-02-2023-0131.
16. Li, W., Zhao, F., Lee, J.M., & Park, J., Septianto F., Seo Y. (2024). How micro-(vs. mega-) influencers generate word of mouth in the digital economy age: The moderating role of mindset. Journal of Business Research, 171, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114387.
17. Li, Z., Yang, Y., & Zhang, X. (2024). Family travel as educational experience: revealing multi-level parents’ perceived value through a family system approach. Tourism Management Perspectives, 53, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2024.101301.
18. Maggiore, G., Lo Presti, L., Orlowski, M., & Morvillo, A. (2022). In the travel bloggers’ wonderland: mechanisms of the blogger-follower relationship in tourism and hospitality management – a systematic literature review. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(7), 2747-2772, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2021-1377.
19. Muller, A. (2016). The digital nomad: buzzword or research category?. Transnational Social Review, 6(3), 344–348, https://doi.org/10.1080/21931674.2016.1229930.
20. Nash, C., Jarrahi, M. H., Sutherland, W., & Phillips, G. (2018). Digital nomads beyond the buzzword: Defining digital nomadic work and use of digital technologies. In Transforming Digital Worlds: 13th International Conference, iConference 2018, Sheffield, UK, March 25-28, 2018, Proceedings 13, p. 207-217. Springer International Publishing.
21. Pataki-Bittò, F., & Kapusy, K. (2021). Work environment transformation in the post COVID-19 based on work values of the future workforce. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 23(3), 151-169, https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-08-2020-0031.
22. Peres, R., Schreier, M., Schweidel, D.A., & Sorescu, A. (2024). The creator economy: An introduction and a call for scholarly research. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 41(3), 403-410, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.07.005.
23. Puhringer, S., & Taylor, A. O (2008). A practitioner’s report on blogs as a potential source for destination marketing intelligence. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 14(2), 177–187, https://doi.org/ 10.1177/1356766707087524.
24. Reienwitz, T.H., & Fowler, J.G. (2019). Information sources and the tourism decision-making process: an examination of generation X and generation Y consumers. Global Business Review, 20(6), 1372-1392, https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0972150919848938.
25. Robinson, V.M. (2019). A new face of tourism: understanding travel experiences of New Zealand inbound generation Z. Auckland: UAT University.
26. Robinson, V.M., & Schanzel, H.A. (2019). A tourism inflex: Generation Z travel experiences. Journal of Tourism Futures, 5(2), 127-141, https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-01-2019-0014.
27. Taheri, B., & Okumus, F. (2024). Conducting mixed methods research. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(3), 995-1004, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2023-1309.
28. Tjuatja, L., Chen, V., Wu, T., Talwalkwar, A., & Neubig, G. (2024). Do LLMs Exhibit Human-like Response Biases? A Case Study in Survey Design. Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 12, 1011–1026, https://doi.org/10.1162/tacl_a_00685.
29. Zikmund, W.G., Babin, B.J., Carr, J.C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods. London: Cencage Learning.
Published
2025-01-20
How to Cite
Rancati, E. (2025). How do travel bloggers influence Generation Z‘s travel decisions? An exploratory study through five Italian famous travel bloggers. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 37, 190. Retrieved from https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/19014
Section
ESI Preprints
Copyright (c) 2025 Elisa Rancati
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
