Sosyal medyada 'Egocasting': Seyahat bağlamında Instagramın Y kuşağı tarafından kullanımına ilişkin nitel bir çalışma

The advent of social networks has given rise to new behaviors and these deserve to be studied, since they contribute to building the online identities of users. Most researchers point out that online interactions shape the self as much as offline interactions do. Therefore, the overall goal of this research is to better understand the motivations of the egocasting behaviour displayed by the youths of Generation Y on social media, and to find out how this behaviour influences their travel experience. Instagram application is taken as a research universe for this purpose. This qualitative research is designed according to semi-structured interviews held with 30 Instagram users, and the content analysis of their Instagram accounts. The results show different motivations related to egocasting, such as hedonism, promoting self-image, love of sharing, inspiration, search for information as well as motivation related to business. The research also provides explanations for different online behaviors emitted by Instagram users. This research not only helps to better understand the construction of the digital self and highlights some changes in the way young people travel, but also emphasizes the impact that egocasting can have at the level of the decision-making process in the context of travel. Finally, the study provides valuable insights to executives as it helps to better understand online consumer behaviors.