How travel bloggers, influencers, family, and friends affect our travel choices
People are constantly influenced by the society we all create and live in. With our actions we are interacting with the rest and intentionally or unintentionally affect others’ opinions and behavior. Our thinking process, our personal sentiments and entire belief systems are based on what we have been taught since childhood. Therefore, it is no surprise that our travel choices are also impacted by our surroundings and by the important individuals in our lives — from our friends and family to people we haven’t met but follow on social media. The latter are a rather new phenomenon that has shaped the cogitation of an entire generation. We tend to perceive those that we follow as a part of our inner circle, as close companions, whose opinion we can trust entirely.
‘Personal approach’ is the new name of the marketing game. A single person with a rather ordinary camera can sometimes spread the word about a product or a place way faster than a thoroughly prepared marketing team with a solid budget.
The majority of human beings desire to be appreciated by the rest and even to be envied. Creating a ‘WOW’ effect through their photos of exotic vacations and via their unbelievable stories is a significant motivator for most of their actions. They have an image that their striving for, often molded after an influencer that the multitude is looking up to.
Influencers have an undeniable impact on their followers and they know very well how to leverage it. SocialMediaToday states that ‘influencer marketing delivers 11x higher ROI than traditional forms of digital marketing’. Not only that, but its conversion rate is also two times faster, especially if they possess an enormous fan base.
The number of followers one has is extremely important to Millennials. Studies have uncovered that the younger social media users are two times more likely to assess others based on the amount of followers they have than the generations before them.
A poll made in the US among 14 000 potential consumers revealed that 30% of them would most likely buy a product endorsed by an ordinary blogger, instead of a celebrity. At the same time, 70% of Millennial consumers take into consideration the recommendations of their peers. What is even more surprising, is the fact that merely 3% of consumers base their purchase decisions on celebrity endorsements.
Extensive research reveals that travel blogs apparently have an impact on 92% of the social media users, while 72% of them have expressed a willingness to alter their destination choice if their friends convey a negative opinion about it.
These numbers become even more staggering when the focus goes East. 95% of the China’s travelers get informed through travel blogs. 86% of Indian travelers also take this approach, which on the other hand is endorsed ‘’only’’ by 66% of the Europeans.
It can be argued, that the more a specific group is mistrustful of the DMOs (the destination marketing organizations), the more it is willing to take an advice by an ‘independent’ blogger. DMOs are responsible for the promotion of a specific territory and all the components of its hotel and leisure sector, which include accommodations, restaurants, transportation, attractions, events, guided tours and any other local services which are targeting the incoming travelers. These official entities are incapable of reaching the same levels of influence that bloggers and acquaintances have, because people are aware of the fact that DMOs are looking at them as nothing more than consumers.
It is not only the lack of trustworthiness that DMOs fail to comprehend. The young travelers, especially those who are the typical Generation Z and Millennials representatives, have an extremely short attention span. According to scientists it is up to 8 seconds long, less than the one that the goldfish has. A single picture from the Seychelles with some text, uploaded by their cousin or mate from school on Instagram could lead them to taking the decision to visit this destination as well — unlike the dozens of brochures and online ads about the same place that they come across on a daily basis.
In a sense, people are going back to their roots — confiding only in the individuals, who are closest to them and who have less motivation to lie to them. With the help of social media travel bloggers and influencers have managed to gain our trust as well. If they misuse this immense power that they have over the masses and become overly obsessed with earning through brand promotions, then they might lose their influence as well in the not-so-distant future.
15toGO takes the game to a whole new level providing incentives to the different key players in the travel community. Everybody can be an influencer and can suggest the destinations and the trips that are worth visiting. Followers can turn into travel buddies, exploring the destinations that they’ve always dreamed of. 15toGO users can actually benefit from referring more new platform participants and reaching trip milestones when booking with ToGO deals.
Moreover — the 15toGO tokeneconomics will incentivize people to contribute relevant travel content and thus help the community choose the best places to travel to. Details about this incentive mechanism will be revealed soon.
We believe that with the globalization and the rise of the sharing economy traveling will emerge as the biggest trend in a society, which is always looking for new horizons. The places that one has visited will be the symbol not only of success or a life status but of one’s knowledge and personality.
‘Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you travelled.’
Mohamed
References:
https://www.foodandthefabulous.com/travel/how-travel-bloggers-influence-your-travel-decisions/
http://twissen.com/travellers/generation-z-impacts-on-families-travel-choices/
https://collectivebias.com/blog/2016/03/non-celebrity-influencers-drive-store-purchases/
https://influencermarketinghub.com/9-mind-blowing-influencer-marketing-statistics/
