The effects of social media influencers on tourist behaviour

THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS ON TOURIST BEHAVIOR In the past decade, the effects of user-generated content on social media on consumers' attitudes and decisions have been extensively examined by researchers. However, despite its popularity in our daily lives, its importance in terms of practise, and the benefits it brings to the tourism industry, there is limited research and literature on influencer marketing in the context of tourism. Therefore, many questions remain unanswered regarding the concept of travel influencers. Moreover, it is seen as necessary to investigate additional questions to contribute to the theory and practice of social media marketing in tourism, such as which characteristics of influencers (Eg., similarity, sincerity) influence consumers' tourist behaviors and how they impact consumers' travel intentions. These questions are seen as additional inquiries that need to be explored to contribute to the theory and practise of social media marketing in tourism. In light of these considerations, the main aim of the research is to explore the influential characteristics of travel influencers, who are defined as internet celebrities who produce social media content about travel, trips, holidays, tourism, or culture, and often share their own experiences. Developing a scale that reveals the identified influential characteristics of social media influencers is determined as the secondary aim of the research. The research utilized an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. As a result of the research, a total of 18 characteristics of travel influencers that influence followers' tourist behaviors were identified, thus accomplishing the main aim of the research. In the scope of the secondary aim of the research, based on the findings from the qualitative research, a scale called "Characteristics of Travel Influencers" (CTI) was developed to explain the characteristics of social media travel influencers. Then, using advanced modeling techniques, it was indicated that the nomological validity of the developed scale was achieved. In the relevant literature, it is observed that the variables used in studies on travel influencers are adapted from social media influencer studies conducted in different subjects. In this study, directly revealing the characteristics of travel influencers and developing a scale that encompasses these characteristics is considered as an indicator of the originality of the research. Furthermore, the identification of both positively perceived and negatively perceived characteristics of travel influencers distinguishes the research.