Social comparison orientation and frequency : A study on international travel bloggers

• This study adopts a social comparison theory perspective to examine the drivers of social comparison frequency (SCF) on Facebook among international travel bloggers who utilize Facebook for their travel blogging activities. An online survey led to 99 usable responses covering travel bloggers from 33 countries.Results suggest that there is a strongly positive and significant relationship between SCF on Facebook and the Ability dimension of social comparison orientation (SCO), as well as between SCF and opinion leadership. While professional travel bloggers are more likely to be opinion leaders, non-professional travel bloggers tend to compare themselves with others on Facebook considerably more often. Overall, it seems that Facebook is deployed in a rather strategic way by travel bloggers who try to enhance the visibility of themselves and their blogs vis-à-vis international competitors. Research contributions and managerial implications are discussed.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Travel bloggers

Social comparison

Social media

Social media influencers

Marketing

Industriell marknadsföring

Industrial Marketing

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)