Social media engagement of hashtag users in the context of local events: mixed method approach

Abstract

Purpose

Local events play a significant role in rebuilding relationships and increasing engagement with local communities in the postpandemic. This study aims to investigate how potential attendees’ usage of local event hashtags facilitates social media engagement, further enhancing their intentions to attend local events.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed approach. The qualitative phase used 12 semistructured in-depth interviews to explore motivations for hashtag usage and developed instruments to measure hashtag usage and social media engagement. The quantitative phase examined the relationship among motivations and behaviors of hashtag usage, social media engagement and behavioral intention through 522 online surveys.

Findings

Qualitatively, four themes manifest in hashtag users’ motivations in the context of local events: self-promoting, searching, summarizing and conforming. The quantitative findings show that these motivations influence active and passive hashtag usage differently, leading to different types of social media engagement (i.e. persistent, customized and triggered engagement). All social media engagements can significantly enhance the intention to attend local events.

Originality/value

This study divides active and passive hashtag users, conceptualizes social media engagement through hashtag usage under the affordance approach and develops instruments for these concepts. It emphasizes the importance of hashtag usage that drives social media engagement and provides insights for local event planners.

研究目的

在后疫情时期, 本地活动在重建关系和增加与当地社区的参与方面发挥着重要作用。本研究调查了潜在参与者对当地活动话题标签的使用如何促进社交媒体的参与, 进一步增强了他们参加当地活动的意愿。

研究方法

本研究采用了一种探索性的顺序混合方法。定性阶段采用了12次半结构化的深度访谈, 以探讨话题标签使用的动机, 并开发了用于测量话题标签使用和社交媒体参与的量表。定量阶段通过522份在线调查研究了动机与话题标签使用、社交媒体参与和行为意向之间的关系。

研究发现

在定性研究中, 话题标签用户的动机在当地活动背景下表现为四个主题：自我推广、搜索、总结和顺应。定量研究结果显示, 这些动机以不同方式影响主动和被动话题标签使用, 从而导致不同类型的社交媒体参与（即持续型、定制型和触发型参与）。所有社交媒体参与都能显著增强参加当地活动的意愿。

研究创新

本研究区分了主动和被动话题标签用户, 通过能力方法构想了话题标签使用下的社交媒体参与, 并为这些概念开发了测量工具。本研究强调了推动社交媒体参与的话题标签使用的重要性, 并为当地活动策划者提供了见解。

Citation

Lin, B., Lee, W. and Choe, Y. (2024), "Social media engagement of hashtag users in the context of local events: mixed method approach", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 254-270. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-03-2023-0074