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The Role of Social Media in the Luxury Tourism Business: A Research Review and Trajectory Assessment

Author

Listed:
  • K Thirumaran

    (JCU Singapore Business School, James Cook University, Singapore 387380, Singapore)

  • Haejin Jang

    (JCU Singapore Business School, James Cook University, Singapore 387380, Singapore)

  • Zahra Pourabedin

    (JCU Singapore Business School, James Cook University, Singapore 387380, Singapore)

  • Jacob Wood

    (JCU Singapore Business School, James Cook University, Singapore 387380, Singapore)

Abstract

The luxury tourism industry immediately conjures up thoughts of exclusivity, with access to it confined to a small and elite group of travelers often located within their own social bubble. Our systematic literature review seeks to understand how tourism scholarship has addressed the issue of luxury travel based on social media pronouncements and the areas of concentration in which earlier studies have been conducted. Literature was sourced using the following key terms “luxury tourism”, “elite travel”, “social media”, and “sustainability” in various combinations using the OneSearch online platform, the Proquest Database, and Google Scholar. Only peer-reviewed journals were used for the critical analysis. Three main thematic areas were identified and reviewed: (1) the role of social media in luxury tourism; (2) the behavioral attributes of luxury travelers’ when using social media; and (3) the methodologies employed in the extant literature, given the limitations of accessing specific data for the luxury tourism market. The selected period for the journals and articles reviewed was the last ten years, from March 2010 to March 2020. NVivo version 12 was used to decipher the themes and focus areas as well as quantify the significance of social media to luxury tourism. Drawing from these literature review outcomes, the study explores future research areas and issues that require new theoretical and methodological frameworks to further our understanding of the intersection between social media and the luxury tourism business.

Suggested Citation

  • K Thirumaran & Haejin Jang & Zahra Pourabedin & Jacob Wood, 2021. "The Role of Social Media in the Luxury Tourism Business: A Research Review and Trajectory Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1216-:d:486256
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roberta Minazzi, 2015. "Social Media Marketing in Tourism and Hospitality," Springer Books, Springer, edition 127, number 978-3-319-05182-6, October.
    2. Tom Kuhlman & John Farrington, 2010. "What is Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(11), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Kim, Juran & Lee, Ki Hoon, 2019. "Influence of integration on interactivity in social media luxury brand communities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 422-429.
    4. Xiang, Zheng & Du, Qianzhou & Ma, Yufeng & Fan, Weiguo, 2017. "A comparative analysis of major online review platforms: Implications for social media analytics in hospitality and tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 51-65.
    5. Giglio, Simona & Pantano, Eleonora & Bilotta, Eleonora & Melewar, T.C., 2020. "Branding luxury hotels: Evidence from the analysis of consumers’ “big” visual data on TripAdvisor," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 495-501.
    6. Heesup Han & Taeyeon Eom & Hyunah Chung & Soyeun Lee & Hyungseo Bobby Ryu & Wansoo Kim, 2019. "Passenger Repurchase Behaviours in the Green Cruise Line Context: Exploring the Role of Quality, Image, and Physical Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Alan S. Abrahams & Weiguo Fan & G. Alan Wang & Zhongju (John) Zhang & Jian Jiao, 2015. "An Integrated Text Analytic Framework for Product Defect Discovery," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 24(6), pages 975-990, June.
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    Cited by:

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