Common themes across social media research

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the contribution of the theme issue on the current and future impact of social media on hospitality and tourism. The authors reviewed the papers looking for common themes among the papers. Once identified, the contributions of the papers to the themes were identified and synthesized into an overview of the theme, including implications for practitioners and researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a review of the literature which included the articles within this issue and external literature that provided additional insight into the themes.

Findings

Five common themes were identified: the importance of user-generated content, regional variances of social media use, the importance of identity, the growing use of mobile access and the importance of measurement. Each of these areas is discussed with new material added to enhance the original discussions within the articles in this issue.

Originality/value

This summary paper provides a glimpse into the articles in this issue. The discussion of the main themes provides insight into social media for practitioners and provides directions for future research.

Citation

Bowen, J. and Baloglu, S. (2015), "Common themes across social media research", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 314-319. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-04-2015-0022