Master’s Thesis

Sustainable Travel on
YouTube: Discussion and
Perception
How do YouTube travel vlogs discuss sustainable
travel? How are they perceived?

Author: Jessica Chu

Supervisor: Stephan Reinhold
Examiner: Stefan Gössling
Term: VT18
Subject: Sustainable Tourism
Level: Masters
Course code: 20VT-5TR40E
Abstract
The objective of this study is to explore how YouTube travel vlogs discuss
sustainable travel and how they are perceived. By using framing analysis, the
research codes are based on the three pillars of sustainability; economic,
environmental and social. Specifically, in the tourism contexts this research seeks to
identify narratives referring to local accommodations, restaurants and shops,
cultural, historical and interactions with local communities and finally, nature
appreciation, use of environmental materials and transportation. To understand
perception 20 interviews are completed with an even split of female and male
millennials. This paper concludes YouTube travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel
indirectly and minimally. Economic and environmental codes were relatively easiest
to identify in comparison to social codes. The varying definitions of social
sustainability prove challenging to pinpoint in the coding process. Although there is
a growing awareness of sustainable travel, ‘popular’ YouTube influencers are slow
to adapt and add elements of sustainability to their messaging, yet perception levels
were higher than expected. It proves important to increase sustainable travel
messages among ‘popular’ social media influencers.

Key words
Sustainable travel, social media influencer, YouTube, sustainability, vlogs,
perception, millennials, economic, environmental, social

Acknowledgments
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Stephan Reinhold
for the guidance, organization and timely responses to numerous emails and
meetings. He continually made time to respond and address the constant questions,
concerns and doubts throughout this thesis process. Without his positive attitude, yet
critical outlook, I would not have been able to complete this thesis or push to grow
as a researcher. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Marianna Strzelecka for the
honest and constructive feedback from the start of this master’s degree. She
frequently encourages me to never stop researching and that there are always
endless opportunities to learn.
I am also indebted to my family. Without their constant support and encouragement,
and undying faith in my capabilities I would not have had the amazing opportunity
to live abroad and complete this master’s thesis. I truly owe it specifically to my
mother, for pushing me and enabling me to take on new risks and seize the best
opportunities. I am also unable to express my appreciation for my three classmates;
Magdalena Meder, Maryam Mesbah & Leen Kass Geriji. They bring new global
perspectives and opinions to enrich this degree. They also provide the infinite care
and support in life and in class. Finally, I extend my greatest thanks to all my friends
who helped me in the big and small ways to complete the research below.
Table of contents
1 List of abbreviations 4
2 List of Appendices 4
3 Introduction 1
Motivation and outline 1
Sustainability, tourism and video influencer content 8
4 Literature review 9
What is a social media influencer (SMI)? 9
Social media and sustainable travel 14
Characteristics of SMI communication 18
4.3.1 User-generated video content 18
4.3.2 Authenticity as a basis for trust 20
4.3.3 Credibility and transparency 22
4.3.4 Communication reach 24
4.3.5 Engagement and interactivity 25
Consequences of SMI communication 26
Perception of messages 27
5 Theory and conceptual framework 28
Overview of conceptual framework 28
Frames in video communication and social media 30
Brief Overview of Theoretical Foundations Utilized in the Study 31
Brief Overview of Literature Reviewed, Discussed and Applied 32
Theoretical Framework 32
6 Methods 36
Philosophical Foundations 36
Research design 39
Sources of evidence 42
Research process 45
Analytical strategy 47
Research limitations 50
Reliability and validity 51
7 Findings/Results 52
Brief Overview of Material 52
Brief Descriptive Analysis 53
How did travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel? 54
Did people perceive these sustainable travel messages? 58
8 Discussion 64
Filling the literature gap 71
Theories in action 74
Implications 76
Limitations 77
9 Conclusion 78
10 References 79
11 Appendices 91

1 List of abbreviations

DMO ----Destination marketing organization

e-WOM ---- Electronic word of mouth
ICT ---- Information and communication strategy
ROI ---- Return on investment
SMI ----Social media influencer
ST ---- Smart technologies
TPB ---- Theory of planned behavior
Vlogs ---- Video blogs
WOM ---- Word of mouth

2 List of Appendices
Appendix A: Presentation sent to interviewees
Appendix B: Interview questions
Appendix C: Word cloud of interview transcripts
Appendix D: All vlog coding summary table
3 Introduction
Motivation and outline
Tourism is a multitrillion-dollar industry which caters to human behavior (Buckley,
2011). It accounts for a tenth of the global human economy but also impacts the
environment similarly to a medium-sized country (Buckley, 2011). It also employs
one out of 11 people worldwide (Ivanov, Dillingham, Parker et al., 2018). Tourism
is unquestionably important across the globe for many reasons, but also impacts the
globe collectively. Little is previously explored regarding environmental impacts
within tourism (Buckley, 2011). Similarly, to these impacts, social media knows no
borders just as the effects of tourism know no borders. Consumers use internet
technologies, like social media, for a wide spectrum of tourism contexts (Shen,
Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). Tourism and mass communication go hand in hand, as
they are both global players. Growth of technology like the growth in tourism has
revolutionized the way consumers find information (Ivanov, Dillingham, Parker et
al., 2018). Social media allows access to more information and more dissemination.
Social media reaches a global audience with limited resources (Hays, Page &
Buhalis, 2012). Perhaps using social media, tourism can have positive contributions
to conservation of social, economic and environmental institutions (Buckley, 2011).
Yet it is important to understand that tourism research differs from environmental
science (Buckley, 2011). Tourism can encompass much more than the
environmental side, but include economic and social aspects of a destination.

People are significantly less influence by top-down marketing communication

approaches, instead they have turned to social media platforms (Ivanov, Dillingham,
Parker et al., 2018). In the last two decades interactive communication has increased
(Soler-Adillon, 2017). Approximately 54% of the total population aged 16-74 use
the internet, and in countries like Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland
and Belgium the percentage increases to more than 70%. Of the world’s population,
42% is active on social networks (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Social media
and social networking sites have dramatically shifted how people receive
information and news (Lou & Yuan, 2018). People are not only connected to the
internet but it is also accessible at the tip of their fingers with the emergence of
smartphones. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are only some of the

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social media platforms which the global population can receive information. One
report revealed that the majority of American adults heavily rely on social media for
news, and their numbers are consistently growing (Lou & Yuan, 2018). There are
more people researching destinations for traveling online using the internet and their
smartphones, and therefore there are higher numbers of people being exposed to
online tourism marketing. It is vital for the tourism industry, and more specifically
the sustainable tourism industry, to expand and adapt into the social media
marketplace to grow and benefit from the social media influencer movement. For
the purpose of this research sustainable tourism is generally defined as the
preservation of the environment, social equity, and local prosperity (Beckendorff,
Sheldon, & Fesenmaier, 2014; as cited in Gössling, 2017).

Social media influencers are defined as a third-party actor with a significant number
of relevant relationships, with a specific quality to influence stakeholders (Enke &
Borchers, 2019). Social media influencers are people who have been shown to have
significant influence on public decisions (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). In the
context of this research, social media influencers could be the key for mass change
in tourism towards sustainability. They influence what we buy, the services we use
and the initiatives we support (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Travelers can vote
and show their influence with their dollar, meaning where and with whom they
choose to spend their money. The benefit of social media influencers, is that they
can achieve both public relations and marketing goals (Borchers, 2019). This can
help create, shape and preserve a destinations image as well as promote it.
Specifically, social media influencers can promote sustainable travel. Therefore,
strategic influencer communication has become a hot topic (Enke, & Borchers,
2019).

Sustainable tourism used to be considered a niche market but recent research has
shown that it is quickly shifting to become the new focus of mass tourism
(Bramwell, Higham, Lane & Miller, 2017). The very use of social media influencers
is one way the digital space has transformed marketing practices as they provide
greater reach than ever before (Fritsch & Fastenau, 2009; as cited in Woodcock &
Johnson, 2019). They are able to reach larger audiences than any other cable

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network (Levine, 2017). Social media influencers potentially influence hard-to-
reach stakeholders like young adults and special interest groups (Enke, & Borchers,
2019). Travel related influencers are highly popular and continue to grow. YouTube
travel influencers are some of the most well-known and continued research needs to
be completed to demonstrate their significance (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020).
Additionally, influencers are present in many industries and research has been done
in sectors like fashion and beauty, health and fitness, food and beverage and even
high-tech softwares (Sokolova & Kefi, 2019). Yet, social media influencers are
scarcely studied within the travel and tourism industry, especially when considering
sustainable tourism.

Among many media channels YouTube is consistently accessed for product and
destination research because YouTube has one of the fastest growing content pools.
Every minute 48 hours of video are uploaded (Biel & Gatica – Perez, 2013).
YouTube accounts of 59% of the influencer marketing investment. Influencer
marketing campaigns obtain 11 times more ROI (return on investment) than a
traditional advertising method (Gretzel, 2018). Influencers also allow tourism
marketers to directly and personally connect with customers (Gretzel, 2018). Unlike
other online platforms, YouTube allows audiences to see, hear and experience a
destination rather than peruse through images. In this regard, social media
influencers on YouTube have an opportunity to share detailed information alongside
their personal story and experiences of a destination. In these ways, YouTube
influencers are able to significantly influence potential future travelers.

Although social media channels are influencers of public opinion and product
information prove their increasing importance, relatively little research on the use of
social media has been completed (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020). Social media
research revolves around purchase intentions of products. The rise of the influencer
marketing potential combined with scant scholarly research makes YouTube an
ideal media platform to promote sustainable travel messages (Xiao, Wang, & Chan-
Olmsted, 2018). YouTube influencers can be highly influential but potentially
highly sponsored. Demonstrating the investment in influencer marketing, one report
showed YouTube travel influencers' can be paid up to $31,000 AUD per post
(Wallace, 2018; as cited in Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020). Companies along

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with tourism boards and governments are heavily investing in this new method of
marketing and public relations. Yet not every content creator proves to be successful
or sponsored. Influencer marketing is also heavily invested by companies as
millennials are the next generation with the biggest buying power (Chatzigeorgiou,
2017). Millennials especially are avid users of social media platforms. Referring to
the halo effect, they accept information from social media influencers who are
similar to themselves (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). Scholars attribute the success of
YouTube influencer marketing to its high consumer perception of information
credibility (Xiao, Wang & Chan-Olmsted, 2018). Their high levels of credibility are
attributed to a YouTube influencers trustworthiness, expertise, likability,
interactivity, knowledge and involvement (Xia, Wang & Chan-Olmsted, 2018).
This reveals the importance to assess YouTube as an information dissemination
tool. YouTube is also believed to have the potential to create a 'new model of
cosmopolitan cultural citizenship' by utilizing its space for engagement and creating
communities (Tolson, 2010). The community of sustainability on social media
platforms is a small yet growing culture. By employing YouTube travel influencers,
perhaps the sustainability culture can expand. Benefits from social media
influencers includes accessibility, ranges in content providers, personalities and a
wide variety of opinions and ideas (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Part of the
phenomena studied is the democratization of who can provide content (Woodcock
& Johnson, 2019). It is important for businesses and destinations marketing teams to
understand this phenomenon when we consider a live and/or pre-recorded social
media entertainment phenomenon like YouTube. YouTube is a platform which
disburses information in a unique way because it allows content to be created by
anyone, in any way, and accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world.

Due to increased free access to online content, traditional forms of advertising are
now faced with more challenges (Luoma et al., 2019). Traditional word-of-mouth
(WOM) advertising and information sources has migrated to online platforms,
becoming electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) (Sokolova & Kefi, 2019).
Destinations and the tourism industry are finding it increasingly difficult to keep
ahead of the Tourism 2.0 environment, referring to the Web 2.0 movement (Ivanov,
Dillingham, Parker et al., 2018). Influencer marketing in travel and tourism

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emphasizes the importance of word-of-mouth (Litvin, Goldsmith & Pan, 2008; as
cited in Gretzel, 2018). Consumers perceive sources of e-WOM as more reliable and
influential for planning and purchase decisions (Ivanov, Dillingham, Parker et al.,
2018). This particular study focuses on protecting a destinations image from
negative e-WOM messages, which further reiterates how quickly and impactfully
information spreads on social media (Ivanov, Dillingham, Parker et al., 2018). The
urgency to understand travel influencers is accentuated with the expenditure on
influencer marketing as this has grown exponentially over the past few years (Lou
& Yuan, 2018). A whopping 75% of surveyed American companies report that they
cooperated with social media influencers in 2018 (Borchers, 2019). Businesses also
report their intention to increase budgets within the next twelve months (Borchers,
2019). Utilizing influencers to promote products and brands on social media has
become an important strategy for marketers and advertisers (Shan, Chen & Lin,
2019). These promotions are easily transferable to the tourism industry and their
destinations.

Digital and social media continues to grow aggressively. Studies show the billion-
dollar influencer marketing industry is uncharted territory (Childers, Lemon & Hoy,
2018). Gretzel (2018) specifically states there is a lack of research regarding travel
and tourism influencer marketing phenomenon. This research bridges insights about
sustainable travel within social media influencers, specifically YouTube video blogs
(vlogs) and the perception of sustainable travel among a sample of millennials. The
need for this study is because the topic is untouched and there is an evident lack of
interchange among the disciplines.

Today's current technology keeps the general population virtually connected. We

are a single click away from a world of information, images and videos. A greater
amount of time per day is spent online on smartphones, sometimes up to a quarter of
a day (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Smartphones have increasingly become
part of everyday life for a massive amount of people (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar,
2018). Reports show that people have a strong disposition to trust the web (Jones,
Leonard & Riemenschneider, 2009). Yet as content is constantly being created and
uploaded to the web, it is becoming ever challenging for marketers and content
providers to keep up. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are

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a few of the main online social media platforms which people frequent on a daily
basis. People from around the world can produce content and contribute to
conversations about a specific attraction, city or country. Video content, uploaded to
YouTube channels, is often an initial starting point to performing research on a
destination and attractions to visit. Public relations and marketing are a growing
challenge for destinations as well as all companies, including within the tourism
industry.

Tourism along with many other industries have turned to the internet and social
media networks for public relations and marketing. The travel industry, like the
social media industry, is expanding and many countries’ economies are heavily
dependent on tourism for long term economic growth (Schubert, Brida & Risso,
2011). Tourism contributes to the growth of a country in many ways. It helps with
importing capital goods, infrastructure investments, and it helps to stimulate other
economic industries and generates employment (Schubert, Brida & Risso, 2011).
Tourism is a major factor in the welfare of countries around the globe. Increased
foreign income growth leads to a tourism boom, and can lead over-tourism issues
such as polluted beaches, lack of infrastructure for waste management expatriate
owned business and much more. Sustainable travel is complicated but on the rise.
As millennials are the next greatest buying power and account for most adults
online, influencer marketing could be an initiator to change, shift and demand a new
type of tourism. Influencers have the ability to impact audience attitudes and
behaviors (Enke & Borchers, 2019). This influential power is beneficial to
companies, activism and even movements towards sustainable travel. This research
is needed in hopes to gain new insights on how sustainable travel is discussed and
how its perceived. Due to the lack of scholarly articles regarding existing frames of
sustainable travel and the perception of this hot topic, it is a starting point for this
thesis and for future research to help understand and shift behaviors.

Sustainable tourism has been on the rise in recent years as consumers are seeking
sustainable options for travel. Additionally, more influencers and media coverage
expose the damages caused by over-tourism. Sustainable options are growing and
marketing them as options in different countries and destinations is becoming more

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pressing, due to climate change, the new issue of COVID-19 and the limited
resources of the globe, natural and economic resources will need to be managed.

The academic significance of this thesis topic is in understanding the how digital
platforms disseminate information for better utilization to the advantage of
sustainability. The practical implications of this research are to increase knowledge
for sustainable companies and destination marketing companies to grow and
contribute to the sustainable tourism community. Marketing companies and
destination tourism boards can promote their sustainable options through virtual
platforms. Understanding influencers and video content can help targeted
promotions for marketing and potentially help sustainable communities, hotels or
eco-friendly options to gain traction. In tracking how this virtual information is
received, perhaps it can lead to behaviour changes in sustainable tourism.

Previous research defines social media influencers, their success factors;

authenticity, credibility, reach and interactivity, and their impact; meaning purchase
intentions and brand awareness. The majority of research concerns itself with the
business and marketing benefits of social media influencers/influencer marketing.
The aim of this thesis is to explore and identify the sustainability cues in popular
YouTube travel vlogs. This research will go further to see if these sustainable
tourism cues are noticed and processed by a small sample of viewers. Sustainable
travel is hardly researched, therefore there are two parts to this research in hopes to
expanding the academic knowledge. The research first focuses on how do popular
YouTube travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel, through the analysis of 15
YouTube travel videos. The second part of the research will examine if and how
sustainable travel aspects are perceived through 20 interviews of millennials.

The term ‘social media influencer’ has become widespread (Woodcock & Johnson,
2019). It describes a digital celebrity who informs and encourages a particular
consumers choice or behavior (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Social media
influencers are defined as third party actors who have a significant number of
relevant relationships, with an ability to influence through content production,
distribution and interaction on the social web (Enke & Borchers, 2019). Social
media influencers differ from traditional celebrities as they have achieved fame

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based on their personal brand (Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020). Social media
influencers cannot exist without influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is
essentially a broader term for social media influencers, as it refers to all online
presence. It is important to note there are three types of influencer; corporate,
mainstream celebrities and ordinary internet users (Borchers, 2019). This research
focuses only on ordinary internet user influencers. Social media influencers are
often on multiple online platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and
YouTube. Little research revolves around the video blogs posted on YouTube and
there for vlogs, another term for video blogs are the focus. Vlogs are unique pieces
of data as they are rich in details and can be created by anyone in any way and
accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world. Social networking platforms have
enabled the creation of user-generated content. This new type of content has
reshaped the landscape, social media enables a dialogue, and created second screen
media to be our main context for stories and information dissemination (Soler-
Adillon, 2017). User-generated content is any photo, text, audio or even video that
can be created by the user or viewer themselves. This content can also include blog
posts, vlog entries, and other posts on social media (Luoma, et al., 2019). User-
generated content refers to content not professionally created and produced by
major media companies. To clearly answer the research question of sustainable
travel, sustainable travel refers to the three pillars of sustainability referred to in the
United Nations sustainable development. (Sustainable Development | UNITED
NATIONS ECONOMIC and SOCIAL COUNCIL, 2020) Sustainable travel
encompasses the three pillars but is adapted to relate to travel and tourism. The three
pillars are economic sustainability, social sustainability and environmental
sustainability.

Sustainability, tourism and video influencer content

Environmental publications typically cover topics such as global contributions to
climate change and ocean pollution, endangered animals and plant species (Buckley,
2011). Sustainability and environmental management tend to be little studied
(Buckley, 2011). Although still important, sustainability within tourism should be
studied as it is also a global contributor to the issues aforementioned. Sustainable
tourism has evolved since 1993 and will need to continue to evolve (Bramwell,

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Higham, Lane & Miller, 2017). Tourism is able to help developing nations with
political and financial support (Buckley, 2011). The strategic aim of a destination is
to create efficient, responsible and sustainable use of tourism resources (Shen,
Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). Therefore, sustainable tourism goals are seen as adaptable
across the different contexts social, cultural, economic, political and environmental
issues (Bramwell, Higham, Lane & Miller, 2017). The growing acceptance also
means there will be different interpretations to what sustainable tourism entails
(Bramwell, Higham, Lane & Miller, 2017). This demonstrates the need for
sustainable tourism/travel research. In this instance, tourism merges hospitality
sectors with the information and communication technologies (ICT) and marketing
world (Pourfakhimi, Duncan, Ould et al., 2020). There is a need and aim to motivate
tourists to minimize their negative environmental impacts, and perhaps social media
can aid in accomplishing this change (Shen, Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020).

This paper is structured as follows. Section three presents the literature review
related to social media influencers, their success factors, user-generated content and
social media within the tourism industry. Section four presents the theories used and
the research model within this work. Section five describes the methodology used in
this research: the identification and analysis of the narratives along with the semi-
structured interviews to understand the perception. Section six highlights the results
of the framing analysis within the vlogs and the interviews. Section seven proposes
a discussion of the results and outlines the theoretical and practical implications of
this work. Section seven concludes the article and outlines limitations and also
future avenues to which this study opens the paths.

4 Literature review
What is a social media influencer (SMI)?
Recent research shows that the average person can spend up to a quarter of their day
on their smartphones (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Information and
communications technologies have rapidly increased leading to social media, and
user-generated content (Shen, Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). There is a growing body of
literature on social media, social media influencers and influencer marketing.
Although there is a growing amount of research being done in recent years, the topic

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continues to remain relatively new and unexplored. The research seeks to define
what social media influencers are, what influencer marketing is, the new generation
of user-generated content and what makes influencers so effective and special.
Previous literature minimally links travel content to the power of social media.
Within social media there is a significant amount of content revolving around travel
and tourism, yet it is hardly explored in terms of social medias influence in tourism
and specifically sustainable travel.

Social media influencers, (SMI) are defined in a number of ways. Borchers, (2019)
expresses the difficulty to pigeonhole what social media influencers truly are. SMIs
cross traditional boundaries in many ways and straddle the lines between intimacy
and publicity, authenticity and commercialization, and finally ingratiation and
critical distance. Due to their online presence SMIs know no boundaries. They are
online personalities which have a large number of followers, usually across one or
multiple social media platforms; such as YouTube and Instagram (Agrawal, 2016;
Varsamis, 2018, as cited in Lou & Yuan, 2018). Similarly, Enke and Borchers
(2019) define social media influencers as third-party actors with a significant
number of relevant relationships and have a specific quality to influence
stakeholders. Their success relies heavily on their followers or subscribers, but they
also rely on the number of hits/views and number of shares. This determines their
success and credibility (Freberg, Graham, McGaughey & Freberg, 2010). There are
four I’s of social media influencers which aid in determining their success. They are
integrating, individualize, involve and initiate (Kaplan, 2012; as cited in
Beckendorff, Sheldon, & Fesenmaier, 2014). Integrate refers to adhering into a
user’s life, YouTube has become quite ubiquitous with online users. Individualize
accounts for a user’s interests and preferences. Involve, encouraging and prompting
conversation or feedback. Finally, initiate where the user creates user-generated
content. SMIs inform, influence and persuade. They work at being informative and
entertaining. Additionally, social media influencers have persuasive powers,
whether it refers to political opinions, reviewing a product or even promoting a
destination.

Social media influencers are extremely exposed to the digital world of social
networks. These people are seen as having a significant influence on the public

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decisions. They can influence what products to buy, which services to use and what
initiatives to support (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). This influential power can
translate to marketing physical products. It can shift the experience economy and
sway politics. This point demonstrates how social media influencers can impact
future travelers of sustainable tourism options. Comparatively, social media
influencers are third-party endorsers who shape attitudes (Daniel Jr., Crawford
Jackson & Westerman, 2018). If social media influencers have the power to shape
attitudes, the question arises whether they can shape sustainable travel attitudes too.
Beauty products, fitness videos and travel content are common topics in the social
media field (Sokolova & Kefi, 2019). SMIs fill specific needs for their followers
and therefore become a credible source for specific topics (Daniel Jr., Crawford
Jackson & Westerman, 2018). These specific needs shift and change with demand,
yet the awareness of demand of sustainable travel content seems low. Particularly
niche-based SMIs are seen as more credible, influential and reliable yet they need to
be recognizable (Daniel Jr., Crawford Jackson & Westerman, 2018). Reiteratively, a
niche-based influencer regarding sustainability and tourism could aid the shift for
change within the tourism industry. Their reputation and power demonstrate how
social media influencers could also be classified as micro-celebrities, market
mavens or even opinion leaders (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020).

Social media influencers depend on social networks. These social networks are
regarded as new up and coming concepts within social media. Zeljko, Jakovic &
Strugar (2018) define social networking as the act of maintaining or increasing an
existing circle of friends. That is to say, social networks introduce new friends
through existing networks and promotes the formation of communities (Zeljko,
Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube as
well as many other social platforms, allow people to meet and share ideas and
promote products (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Social media influencers are
different than traditional celebrities (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020). Social
media influencers must develop a personal brand through their work, a sense of
uniqueness. SMIs work to develop self-brand and extend their potential fame. They
work to create close and consistent relationships with fans by sharing parts of their
lives online (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020). These online relationships are also

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known as interactions (Daniel, Crawford Jackson & Westernman, 2018). Further
justified and named para-social interactions (Audrezet, de Kerviler & Moulard,
2018). Also defined as one-sided ‘relationships’ with the possibility of interactions
(Audrezet, de Kerviler & Moulard, 2018). As mentioned earlier social media
influencers also depend on the halo effect (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2016). The halo
effect refers to the concept where the perception of an individual can create a
positive or negative ‘halo’ aroung themselves (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2016). This
helps blur individual characteristics and help create a positive or negative
impression of a person, or in this instance SMI. The halo effect coincides well with
Sokolova & Kefi’s (2019) concept of homophily. Homophily refers to the idea
which people tend to choose or prefer individuals who are similar to themselves
(Sokolova & Kefi, 2019). Sokolova & Kefi (2019) also found that homophily
affects para-social interactions. This is the idea that value sharing is a strong aspect
of persuasion. Further in this research it might be important to consider this, as
influencers must or should share similar values to convey messages effectively.
Followers need to develop an impression of friendship and relatability to the social
media influencer. Product placement can be particularly persuasive in influencer
messaging due to these online relationships. These para-social interactions are
important to gain trust, as viewers are more likely to replicate the behaviours and
adopt the same choices in product/experience purchases (Audrezet, de Kerviler &
Moulard, 2018). Social media influencers with a high number of followers are
known as microcelebrities (Jorge, Maropo & Nunes, 2018). As a matter of fact,
microcelebrity is a new type of influential celebrity. Microcelebrity deploy a
communicative practice, by creating a public persona which strategically interacts
with the viewers intimately (Jorge, Maropo & Nunes, 2018). Except these
microcelebrities/SMIs are within an environment which allows for greater
proximity, authenticity and immediacy (Marwick & Boyd, 2010; as cited in Jorge,
Maropo & Nunes, 2018).

Social media influencers are considered as everyday consumers whom seek more
information, to share ideas, information and recommendations (Gretzel, 2018).
Social media influencers hold a great deal of influence as they achieve both
marketing and public relations goals (Borchers, 2019). In light of this, practitioners

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increasingly note the importance that influencers impact marketing activities (Kay,
Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020). Tourists are more active, independent, informed and
skilled. They plan, interact evaluate, share and recommend like never before (Shen,
Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). The reason why it is important to consider destination
marketing organizations (DMO) can also utilize social media influencers to impact
traveler activities. Social media offers DMOs with a tool that can reach globally,
with limited resources (Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2012). DMOs have begun to take
advantage of the Web 2.0 social media marketing applications, shifting from their
traditional marketing methods to online marketing (Elliot, 2016). As more
attractions and accommodations move online, budgets to publicize a destination
seems to dwindle. Social media is one method which is cost effective with
substantial reach. In terms of tourism, social media is the ultimate weapon for
publicity and awareness. Yet these SMIs must balance authenticity, sponsorships,
culture and engagement levels (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Therefore, quality and
successful social media influencers must be invested in carefully for the greatest
impact on future travel.

As discussed earlier, social media influencers are defined as a third-party actor with
substantial online presence and influence, understanding influencer marketing is
also critical. Influencer marketing has grown exponentially (Lou & Yuan, 2018). In
2018, a report showed that 39% of marketers planned to increase their budget for
influencer marketing, and 19% plan to spend more than $100,000 per campaign
(Lou & Yuan, 2018). Influencer marketing is defined by the number of friends or
followers which support the influencer (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). It connects online
personas to brands and services and viewers. These companies aim to gain
audiences’ trust by regularly engaging them (Childers, Lemon & Hoy, 2018).
Together with influencer marketing, marketers and brands identify and invest in
certain influencers which align and promote their brand to target consumers (Lou &
Yuan, 2018). Marketers generally categorize influencers into 4 categories; 1.
celebrities 2. industry experts or thought leaders 3. bloggers and content creators 4.
micro-influencers (Gretzel, 2018). SMI's that create content resonating with
personal passions could be sidetracked by commercial opportunities (Audrezet, de
Kerviler & Guidry Moulard, 2018). The promotions of brands and products they

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might not normally be interested in could harm their authenticity. Authenticity will
be further explored in the following text. Investors in influencer marketing must
consider the more authentic influencers prove to be the most convincing influencers,
therefore the most persuasive.

Social media and sustainable travel

Social Media in Tourism

Sustainable tourism is a relatively new term within academic research. Social media
and the internet have previously been underutilized for the promotion of
sustainability. The use of the internet for travel-related information search has
earned a significant amount of attention from researchers and scholars (Sun, Law &
Luk, 2018). The rise of social media creates new opportunities, within the tourism
industry and sustainable travel. Opportunities for travel-related information like,
online bookings, evaluations of destinations are much needed travel advice
(Gössling, 2015). Perhaps the internet and more specifically social media have not
fused together due to the ambiguity of sustainable tourism. Previous articles state
that sustainable tourism is quite confusing, the meaning and practical applications
are blurred and unclear (Koutsouris, 2009). Yet social media has shifted the way
travel is discussed (Gössling, 2015). Along with sustainable development,
sustainable travel is widely used in international documents and agreements
(Koutsouris, 2009). Therefore, increased research should be invested for current
academia. The reason sustainable travel or sustainable tourism is so complicated is
it is often contested and highly diverse, dynamic and each defending their own
discourse of sustainability (Koutsouris, 2009). Even the discussion of sustainable
travel online refers to the research – before the trip, during trip, and reviewing after.
Functions like researching and planning, booking reservations and online
feedback/reviews are constantly changing how the tourism industry and tourist must
develop. The internet has enabled global access to information, meaning global
resources. How people travel, plan those trips, and encourage other travelers, is
understudied. Tourists now find information about hours of operation, weather in a
destination and even attraction fees (Gössling, 2015). More people are turning to the
internet to complete their research of a destination before they travel and during

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their travels with a smartphone in hand. Previous literature also covers how
destination marketing organization (DMOs) use social media (Hays, Page &
Buhalis, 2012).Destinations and its stakeholders are increasingly reliant on the
internet and social media to manage, market tourism and share favourable consumer
opinions (Hays, Page, & Buhalis, 2012; Mauri & Minazzi; as cited in Gössling,
2015). Tourism destinations should manage their resources sustainably using smart
technologies (Shen, Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). Smart technologies specifically refer
to the use of websites, apps, and other digital media for multiple reasons and
purposes (Shen, Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). This research sought to understand if
social media sites make a contribution to sustainable tourism within the smart
tourism paradigm (Shen, Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). They explored the perceptions
and attitudes of Chinese tourist consumers using smart tourism framework. Social
media appears to have an effect on pre-consumption – meaning the pre-trip planning
and educating, as well as the consumption – meaning while at the destination (Shen,
Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). The term smart tourism (ST) is the application of
information and communication technologies (ICTs) to develop innovations and
tools to improve tourism (Shen, Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). When it comes to
sustainability, awareness and options are generally fewer. Sustainable tourism needs
constant education, monitoring and collaboration, which can be achieved through
IT, including social media (Beckendorff, Sheldon, & Fesenmaier, 2014). Although
the literature suggests there is an increase for awareness of the environment (Shen,
Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020).

Sustainable travel

Sustainability and sustainable travel topics are growing as a special issue. A tourist
who is mindful of the environment and supportive of environmental causes is
considered a ‘sustainable’ or ‘responsible’ traveler. Environmental or sustainable
attitudes and behaviors must be learned. Learning is the critical key to creating a
more sustainable future (Koutsouris, 2009). Previous research specifies that social
learning should be used to involve human beings and cultural considerations, to
create a lasting and effective sustainable future (Koutsouris, 2009). The literature
focuses on specific case studies in the development of sustainable tourism within the
destination and its key stakeholders. There is little covered regarding the bridge

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between social media influencers and sustainable travel. Sustainable travel has
become a major concern which has fueled research on how to make people change
to more sustainable travel (Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling, 2013). Therefore, re-
iterating the need to understand how sustainable travel is being discussed on social
media.

Although this research does not seek to understand travel behaviors, due to some
limitations, some literature does pursue travel behavior specifically regarding
sustainable transportation (Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling, 2013). Travel behavior ties
in with the psychology of sustainable travel, which is significantly different than
understanding how it is being discussed (Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling, 2013). Using
behavioral economics, the research seeks to understand how to shift behaviors
towards sustainable travel (Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling, 2013). The research
exposes how motives are exclusively instrumental in shifting travel behavior
(Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling, 2013). Demonstrating how motivations and morals are
key in the actions and behaviors of travelers. It might also be important to note that
travel behavior is jointly determined by multiple factors such as; social influence,
individual factors and transport environment (Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling, 2013).
Previous literature also shows that eco-labelling could be helpful to develop
sustainable tourism, to contribute to green tourist choices (Gössling, 2015). Eco-
labelling provides some identification of sustainability for travelers upon their
research process. Some online platforms acknowledge the shift towards sustainable
tourism. For example, booking sites like TripAdvisor pledge to promote sustainable
tourism, which is tied to social and cultural issues (Gössling, 2015).

The link between sustainability and tourism is complicated (Walker & Moscardo,
2014). There is minimal literature relating social media influencers with tourism or
sustainability, despite research on social media influencers and sustainable tourism
in on the internet separately. As previously mentioned, the majority of the literature
found revolves around the marketing perspective in business to encourage purchase
intention and a handful of articles on influencing behavior for food and beverage,
activism and politics. One study regarding tourism, highlights the need for rural
businesses to pursue millennial visitors through social media influencers
(Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). It is discussed that millennials tend to be the most drawn to

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rural tourism due to the authentic and low-impact travel style. Rural tourism is one
method of travel that is considered more sustainable. It is claimed that millennials
are the new force in the tourism market and should be approached through social
media. Millennials are the next major buying power. They should be the intended
target and focus for further research to understand the potential. As social media is
often about the interactivity and para-social interactions, personal messaging could
be an important branch to understand.

Social media offers the opportunity for tourists/visitors to contribute decision-

making through interactivity and engagement (Gössling, 2015). One study
demonstrates how online communications allows tourism marketers to directly
connect and personally tailor message to customers (Gretzel, 2018). This same
study emphasizes how a destinations image can be significantly influenced through
SMIs and other endorsers (Gretzel, 2018). As the tourism industry grows, more
travelers rely on e-WOM, electronic word-of-mouth (Gretzel, 2018). Electronic
word of mouth is widely used by consumers on online platforms (Reyes-Menendez,
Saura & Martinez-Navalon, 2019). It is defined as communication on the internet
which can be diffused by other online applications; such as YouTube (Reyes-
Menendez, Saura & Martinez-Navalon, 2019). Research shows the growing
importance of e-WOM in the decision-making process of a consumer (Reyes-
Menendez, Saura & Martinez-Navalon, 2019).

Credibility is incredibly important in terms of the online community, like with

social media influencers, which will be further explored in the following sections.
Consumer involvement or interactions, volume of e-WOM, source credibility and
perceived credibility all contribute and highlight the necessary characteristics and
elements a successful social media influencer must maintain (Reyes-Menendez,
Saura & Martinez-Navalon, 2019). Tourism marketers who began working early
with bloggers and online sources became important travel influencers (Gretzel,
2018). Recent examples of social media influencers in the travel and tourism are
vlogs like Jack Harries of JacksGap who co-creates with Marriott, earning 900,000
views (Gretzel, 2018). Marriott has worked with other influencers, which
demonstrates how companies can utilize influencer marketing. Travel and tourism
are important industries and despite its prominence in the world there is a lack of

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research on travel and the tourism influencer marketing phenomenon (Gretzel,
2018). Social media is the tip of the iceberg when attempting to influence
sustainable travel. How consumers perceive travel in social media influencers
should be investigated further.

Characteristics of SMI communication

4.3.1 User-generated video content

Social media influencers on social networks also brings in a new generation of
content, user-generated content. Unlike before media content can be created by
anyone and everyone. The most well-known sites include Facebook, and YouTube
(Elliot, 2016). Media is no longer limited to major industrial-economic actors
(Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). The power of electronic consumer-to-consumer
(C2C) communication is the preferred source for travel information (Elliot, 2016).
User-generated content allows each user to be both the recipient and a content
provider (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018).

User-generated content is successful due to the proximity between producers and

consumers (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). There is a newfound intimacy created
between producers of content and consumers (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Social
media presence allows for a sense of intimacy and immediacy of a relationship
(Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy & Silvestre, 2011). It even shows that high levels
of social presence make the social media influencer more influential (Kietzmann,
Hermkens, McCarthy & Silvestre, 2011). To further emphasize user-generated
contents impact, 29% of online consumers in the U.S. watch user-generated video
content at least once a month (Elliot, 2016). YouTube’s audience rapidly grows
across all demographics. The majority of young internet users, 80% are aged 18-29
in the U.S. (Madden, 2009; as cited in Morris & Anderson, 2015).

In the context of this paper, user-generated content refers to video blogs or vlogs.
User-generated video content can be considered as visual stories (Elliot, 2016).
These vlogs are self-made productions that are created with an intent to convey a
meaning (Pace, 2008; as cited in Elliot, 2016). Vlogs posted on platforms like
YouTube are widely popular yet scarcely studied particularly in terms of sustainable

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tourism. YouTube remains one of the most popular video sharing online platform.
Google purchased YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion in stock (Latham, Butzer &
Brown, 2008; as cited in Elliot, 2016). Vlogs can be seen as multimodal extensions
of text-based blogging. This allows greater enrichment found in the complexity and
depth of nonverbal behavior (Biel & Gatica-Perez, 2013). One study sought to
understand the influence of how vlogging can promote a destination image. Social
media and user-generated content is increasingly important to the economic success
of a destination (O’Connor, 2008, as cited in Gössling, 2015). Therefore, there is an
increase in research regarding user-generated content and its influence. The
exploratory case study, using the Philippines, demonstrates how vlogs can vividly
create a destinations image (Peralta, 2019). This solidifies how stories and images of
user-generated content can influence viewers perspective. Also, it exemplifies how
user-generated content like vlogging can be used for promotional and marketing
agendas (Peralta, 2019). Although this study uses Facebook as their social media
platform, it remains translatable. Plus, it still remains that tourism researchers see
the benefit of analyzing travel vlogs are a cost-effective method in collecting rich,
authentic and unsolicited consumer feedback (Pan et al., 2007; as cited in Elliot,
2016).

Travel vlogs have great potential to inform tourism marketers and sustainable
tourism (Elliot, 2016). Additionally, user-generated video content is found to
stimulate fantasies and day dreams, perhaps this creates potential for sustainability
goals laced within idyllic content (Elliot, 2016). Previous literature found were
relatively heavy in user-generated content but not specific to video content. Some
academic articles or conference papers were discovered referring to the potential
and need for more research on travel video content, which articulates the gap this
research seeks to fill. There is significant need for defining sustainability in travel
influencers, as well as their potential influence. The research previously shows there
is value in user-generated video content but fails to link sustainable tourism in user-
generated video content and perceptions of these messages. Influencer-produced
branded content, another term for user-generated content, is often considered more
organic, authentic and impactful (Lou & Yuan, 2018). Therefore, the success factors
of social media influencers in creating user-generated content must strive for

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authenticity, credibility, engagement and reach. Authenticity is frequently positively
associated with traveller attitudes (Cohen, 1988; Hughes 1995; as cited in Elliot,
2016).

4.3.2 Authenticity as a basis for trust

Social media influencers critical factor is credibility and likeability. Credibility and
likability are highly linked to authenticity. As viewers view perceived authenticity
highly, it is the basis for trust translating to credibility. Yet what is considered
authentic? A great deal of research demonstrates that user-generated content by
social media influencers is seen as more authentic and trusted. As previously
mentioned, influencer marketing has mainly been researched in the marketing
perspective of a business. Companies fund research to understand how the modern-
day consumer learns and what influences them to purchase (purchase intention).
One study shows that authenticity is the main effect on audience purchase intentions
(Pöyry, Pelkonen, Naumanen & Laaksonen, 2019). This can also be transferred to
destination recommendations within tourism, regarding this studies topic.

As authenticity is claimed to build trust and therefore translates to purchases in the

business world. It was revealed that the key element behind purchase is trust
(Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). Further research must be conducted a study to fully
understand the factors that enable trust (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). Chatzigeorgiou
(2017) further explains that individuals on social media are trusted based on their
reputation, competence and predictability. Along with trust, authenticity is a key
element which goes hand in hand. Authenticity can be defined as perceived
authenticity. Perceived authenticity is generally understood as a person being true to
one's self (Luoma et al., 2019, as cited in Gilmore & Pine, 2007; Moulard, Garrity,
& Hamilton Rice, 2015; Fritz, Schoenmueller, & Bruhn, 2017; Kernis & Goldman,
2006). Perceived authenticity is the genuineness, uniqueness and originality of a
person or their ideas (Luoma et al., 2019). Successful social media influencers must
demonstrate authenticity effectively. Techniques influencers use to demonstrate
authenticity include; circulating selfies, posting original and creative content,
shooting videos with a sense of immediacy and live elements, interacting with
followers, and consistent personal branding strategies (Audrezet, de Kerviler &
Guidry Moulard, 2018).

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Yet conveying authenticity is not as simple as being oneself. Social media
influencers must express, speak and otherwise communicate in a relevant way to a
subculture they aim to appeal to. SMIs also need to portray this authenticity with
ease and do so comfortably (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). In today's market, a
social media influencer's ability to provide authentic experiences becomes a
competitive advantage (Luoma et al., 2019). Strategic communication practitioners
recognize the need for authenticity in order to engage with communities and
cultures (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Motivations to publish and share are also a
major factor for authenticity of an influencer. One article highlights the fame of
young men whose YouTube careers started as teenagers. They developed unique
and authentic channels, with more than two million viewers, illustrating their
success (Morris & Anderson, 2015). Yet they present a new form of masculinity,
with authenticity (Morris & Anderson, 2015). This demonstrates the need and
different types of success authenticity of a YouTube influencer can provide and
share. It also shows the power of influence based on authentic YouTube influencers.
Publishing creative content as an outlet is a greater motivator for influencers than
promotions and sponsorships. Making money is only in fourth place for influencer
motivations (Audrezet, de Kerviler & Guidry Moulard, 2018).

In Luoma et al (2019) study, their results emphasized the importance of experienced

authenticity as well as online community engagement, which will be further
discussed below. Reinforcing the idea that authenticity leads to trust is that online
content generated by amateurs is perceived as more authentic (Luoma et al., 2019).
Due to the "spontaneity", ordinary people believe it is more authentic than corporate
advertising videos (Luoma et al., 2019). Two types of frameworks of authenticity
exist within marketing; indexical and iconic (Audrezet, de Kerviler & Guidry
Moulard, 2018). Indexical refers to whether an object is the original, and iconic
refers to if an object is perceived to be an accurate representation of something
(Audrezet, de Kerviler & Guidry Moulard, 2018). More specifically vloggers self-
disclose and speak directly to their audience, meaning the camera. Both of these
methods are perceived as authentic (Luoma et al., 2019). Reiterated, authenticity
and personality are strong influencers of trust (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). In an older
study, there exists a positive influence on web trust (Jones, Leonard, &

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Riemenschneider, 2009). In this 2009 study, results show people trust influencers on
the web for the last decade. Sustaining the concept that authenticity is a key element
to trust. Authenticity of influencers is a key skill to perform. It is vital that social
media influencers appear natural. SMIs should not appear scripted or as if they put
in too much thought or work. They should display highly skilled forms of emotional
and affective labor (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019).

Millennials tend to be the most active online users (Sokolova & Kefi, 2019;
Chatzigeorgiou, 2017) Millennials identify with the social network and frequently
borrow aspects of their personalities and lifestyle in order to look like them
(Sokolova & Kefi, 2019). They are often well-educated young people they seek to
identify with an influencer (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). Young people are digitally
competent and active on social media. As a result, they seek online personalities
which are authentic (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). Social media influencers are seen as
more trustworthy if they seem more relatable to oneself (Shan, Chen & Lin, 2019).
Audience members can then form strong emotional bonds with influencers (Luoma
et al., 2019). Vloggers specifically can be identified as "authentic online celebrities"
(Luoma et al., 2019). Their authenticity is further established by their directness,
transparency and conversational nature (As cited Luoma et al., 2019, Tolson, 2010).
Social media influencers are different than traditional celebrities. They are still seen
as an aspirational group but audiences find them personally relevant and a credible
source of information (Shan, Chen, & Lin, 2019). Previous research continues to
confirm that influencer endorsement must focus on their source of credibility.

4.3.3 Credibility and transparency

Along with authenticity, credibility and transparency are important success factors
of social media influencers. A social media influencers influential potential depends
on their popularity. SMI popularity is based on the number subscribers, followers,
likes, shares and views. Source credibility is defined as a consumers' perception of
an information source based on its trustworthiness, attractiveness and knowledge
(Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017). Equally, credibility is defined as the degree of
trustworthiness and reliability a source has (Sokolova & Kefi, 2019). The need to be
transparent with audiences is also critical for social media influencer credibility.

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This relates to the perception of quality communication by the viewers (Sokolova &
Kefi, 2019). Credibility also relates to homophily as previously mentioned regarding
parasocial interactions. Credibility influences viewers through a process of
internalization (Sokolova & Kefi, 2019). As it is reiterated, influencers need to share
similar values and attitudes to be perceived as credible. As stated by Johnson &
Kaye (2013) viewers have selective exposure, credibility affects their choice to view
or ignore certain content (Sokolova & Kefi, 2019).

As many SMIs are sharing information about products or experiences, with the
intent to persuade a purchase, audiences exhibit various coping mechanisms to resist
this communication (Luoma et al., 2019). It is important to note that multiple
countries have requirements of disclosure statements within an influencer’s
post/video (Gretzel, 2018). It is clear advertising laws have adapted to influencer
marketing as well. Influencers must be transparent to their audiences if they receive
money from the brands to which they advocate and promote (Sokolova & Kefi,
2019). Communities can become deeply suspicious and hostile towards forms of
advertising or strategic communications (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019) Strategic
communications practitioners presenting their own products are immediately
perceived as suspicious (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). There is a level of comfort
exhibited in audiences when watching trusted streamers review a product
(Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Social media influencers or those who create user-
generated content are considered to be more credible than company created
advertisements (Lee, Lee & Hansen, 2017, as cited in Luoma et al., 2019).
Additionally, Lou and Yuan (2018) suggests that influencer-generated content holds
informative value. Some influencer credibility can also positively affect audience
trust, which in turn creates brand awareness and purchase intentions (Lou & Yuan,
2018).

Credibility plays an important role in social media influencers skillsets, but

transparency is vital to their credibility. One study argued that if an SMI disclosed
their sponsorship, that audiences would consider the message less persuasive. The
reasoning behind this paper was that audiences might perceive the content as
advertising (Evans et al., 2017; van Reijmersdal et al., 2016; as cited in Luoma et
al., 2019;). Although further research disputes this. The contrary has been shown.

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Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson (2020) study shows that influencers who disclose their
sponsorships have higher levels of credibility and purchase intentions. Further
research is needed on the types of social media influencers and the transparency of
their relationships with companies, of whether levels of payments or compensation
change the perception of credibility (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020). Credibility
can be attributed to social media influencer by their transparency and ability to build
trust, but also on their likability. Another measure of credibility on social media is
the number of likes (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020).

4.3.4 Communication reach

Social media reaches further than ever before. As previously stated, many
destination marketing organizations turn to the relatively low-cost option of social
media, due to its global reach (Hays, Page, Buhalis, 2012). It has the ability for
anyone to communicate with everyone (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). Reiterated by Lim,
Radzol, Cheah & Wong (2017) the use of SMIs reach the target segment often by
leveraging a plethora of social media platforms. Social media differs from
traditional media channels (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). The key difference is
that information in social media is cheap and accessible (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar,
2018). Anyone can publish or share information in their own unique way. Social
media reaches people at a scale and speed larger than any previous communications
mediums (Hays, Page, Buhalis, 2012). Social media also allows individuals or
companies to reach audiences that might be otherwise hard to reach (Woodcock &
Johnson, 2018). Tourism groups recognize there is a need to reach younger
generations, those conveniently on social media platforms. YouTube viewers watch
4.95 billion videos every day, proving the sizable potential audience a piece of
video content could be viewed. (Geyser, 2018). Additionally, 1.32 billion people use
YouTube. Social media influencers have the capability to be more popular than a
traditional celebrity (Geyser, 2018). Vlogs are becoming increasingly popular as a
communication channel, due to their ability to reach mass audiences (Uzunoğlu &
Misci Kip, 2014; as cited in Luoma et al., 2019). As the tourism industry grows and
becomes more affordable, reach is more important to hit the numbers but also target
the right travelers. The study of social media influencers becomes clear, the greater
reach the greater chance of influence. Regarding sustainable tourism, the use and

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study of social media influencers based on their immense reachability is vital in
hopes to increase sustainable travel.

4.3.5 Engagement and interactivity

Social media is all together a different method of strategic communication. Social
media is readily available and has changed the world of communication between
individuals and organizations (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Unlike traditional
methods of advertising, social media platforms allow interaction. Social media
produces influencers who build their following based on their engagement and
relevant content (Gretzel, 2018). Social media platforms also enable dialogue and a
new level of engagement that other communication or broadcasting channels have
not. Interactive communication channels have increased (Soler-Adillon, 2017).
Reinforcing this idea, Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar (2018) state the foundation of
social media technologies is turning communication channels into an interactive
dialogue. It is the art and science of engaging influential people online to share
messages and sometimes form sponsored content (Sammis et al., 2016; as cited in
Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). Online popularity can be altered through engagement with
social media (Morris & Anderson, 2015).

User-generated content by social media influencers has reshaped the landscape due
to the interactivity (Soler-Adillon, 2017). Additionally, despite traditional media
increasing engagement, vloggers maintain a sense of inclusivity and individuality
(Morris, & Anderson, 2015). Destinations and tourism should follow suit and adapt
to strategic communication channels with high interactivity. Tourism destinations
are constantly competing to be the next best location, but with greater interactivity,
perhaps tourism management can better match the traveler to the destination for a
more sustainable traffic flow. These platforms have become a space for dialogue
where information and stories are accessed and disseminated (Soler-Adillon, 2017).
By using this storytelling method, sustainability messages can be more effectively
shared among travelers as well as operators. Interactive media requires a significant
amount of storytelling as well as creating and designing experiences for an active
audience. Interactivity also helps shape and influence the type of content created
(Soler-Adillon, 2017). Influencers with relationships on YouTube, Instagram and
Facebook are not unidirectional. Influencers add comments and discuss content,

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with the possibility to respond to messages and comments to build interactivity
(Sokolova & Kefi, 2019).

Social media networks are for social interactions and represent the social sphere of
communication (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Interaction is vital to developing
online relationships and followers. Interaction in comparison to participation, is the
act of interacting with content that is already created or produced (Zeljko, Jakovic &
Strugar, 2018). Interactivity can also be defined as the ability to partake in the
process of interaction (Soler-Adillon, 2017). Recent studies emphasize the need to
engage with audience members (Luoma et al., 2019). The more interactivity or
engagement, the greater success and credibility (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020).
Engagement levels are important to influence consumer decision making (As cited
in Luoma et al., 2019; van Ruler). Engagement levels vary from influencer to
influencer. It is disclosed that micro-influencers, those who have 1,000 to 100,000
likes or followers maintain the best engagement level (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson,
2020). Macro-influencers, 100,000 to 1,000,000 likes/follows, often hire teams to
help manage communications and interaction creating a less authentic and personal
online relationships (Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson, 2020). Micro-influencers hit a
sweet spot, where they have enough credibility with the number of followers and
likes yet maintain a personal relationships and good levels of engagement. Needless
to say, engagement is a critical skill that ensures social media influencer success.

Consequences of SMI communication

Assuming social media influencers are able to be all of the above; authentic, trusted,
transparent and credible, their ability to increase brand awareness and purchase
intentions are high. Studies show that influencers who are extremely exposed to
social networks are able to influence public decisions (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar,
2018). From the things people purchase, to the services they use, and initiatives they
support, influencers can persuade audiences one way or another (Zeljko, Jakovic &
Strugar, 2018). Marketing industries need to adapt and realize the growth of social
media influencers and users. Millennials are the generation with the greatest
purchasing power (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017). 74% of consumers make their purchase
decisions based on social media (Bennett, 2014; as cited in Chatzigeorgiou, 2017).

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 Perception of messages
Social media influencers are one strategic method of communication. Their new
influence on public opinion and purchase intentions are important to understand.
The new wave of user-generated contend is critical to utilize in hopes to promote
sustainable travel and as important as authenticity and credibility are, perception by
viewers is still under researched. Previous literature shows little regarding social
media. Yet social media sites are perceived as the most important channel for
searching travel information (Sun, Law & Luk, 2018). There is some research
regarding the perception of photos through the online platform Instagram and
celebrity endorsement. This research identifies that sponsored content is less
favorably perceived (Pöyry, Pelkonen, Naumanen & Laaksonen, 2019).

Yet it must be remembered that as previously stated the opposite has been shown.
Kay, Mulcahy & Parkinson (2020) study shows that influencers who disclose their
sponsorships have higher levels of credibility and purchase intentions. The findings
of this research also emphasize the importance of organizations finding suitable
matches between endorser and their brand and content for optimal results (Pöyry, et
al., 2019). The opportunities for influence have grown due to social media
influencers (Pöyry, et al., 2019). Regular people are able to become celebrities in
their own way, which is why the perception side of social media is vital (Pöyry, et
al., 2019). Reinforcing this weakness or gap in perception, the impact of the internet
on tourists’ perception of information sources have been previously ignored despite
the rapid development of information and communication technology (Sun, Law &
Luk, 2018). One study seeks to evaluate the performance of various search channels
for travel related information (Sun, Law & Luk, 2018). Moreover, referring to a
destinations image on social media; perceptions of images were stated to be more
important than tangible resources (Ivanov, Dillingham, Parker et al., 2018). It is
emphasized that perceptions are more powerful than realities in terms of motivating
people to act (Gunthrie & Gale, 1991; as cited in Ivanov, Dillingham, Parker et al.,
2018).

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5 Theory and conceptual framework
Overview of conceptual framework
There is low awareness of theories and techniques for tourism research in the
academic disciplines (Buckley, 2011). Due to the multidisciplinary nature of
tourism, social media and communications is based within the business perspective.
Framing theory is used within this study. Frames in communication are ways to
organize everyday realities (Chong & Druckman, 2007). Therefore, it is relevant to
this research as it helps to answer how sustainable travel communication is
organized, expressed and shared. Sociological foundations of framing will be used
to discuss frames of communication (Borah, 2011). The reason sociological framing
will be used is because it is the type of framing focuses on words, images, phrases
and presentation styles. Frames within interpretative research helps to promote
specific definitions and interpretations (Chong & Druckman, 2007). It is used to
identify and track issue definitions and trends (Chong & Druckman, 2007).
Specifically, in this case frames will be used to track the definition of sustainable
travel and the perception or interpretations of sustainable travel in the second part of
the research. Since sustainable travel is difficult to define and relatively new and
diverse, frames are the best method to measure sustainable travel, as there is no
standardization (Chong & Druckman, 2007). Framing analysis helps tourism
researchers to review mass mediated messages and identify the interplay (Ritchie,
Burns & Palmer, 2005). It can be used to both distinguish how influencers write and
share their messages but also how individuals understand those stories (Ritchie,
Burns & Palmer, 2005).

Framing theory helps process communication, this theory will help frame the
concepts of sustainability that are communicated (de Vreese, 2005). Since framing
involves selection and salience (Entman, 1993). Salience itself is the idea of making
a piece of information more noticeable, meaningful or memorable to an audience
(Entman, 1993). It aligns with the selection of YouTube travel vlogs and
determining the salient messages within them. Additionally, in the interviews that
will be completed, salient messages will be the relevant to identifying perceptions.
Framing is only defined in relations to a specific issue, and in this instance

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sustainable travel is the issue (Chong & Druckman, 2007). The frame defining
attitudes towards sustainable travel may include considerations of the social,
economic and environmental impacts. Sustainability but more specifically
sustainable travel is hardly defined within academic papers and can be articulated in
numerous ways.

Frames will be analyzed within the YouTube vlog narratives and within interviews.
Framing theory will be used to identify and construct stories and patterns. Frames
will identify both direct and indirect messages about sustainable travel. Direct
narratives will address sustainability or the reasons for the YouTube influencers’
choice and actions to promote sustainable travel. A direct statement must include
outlining the sustainability factor, if a YouTube influencer states choosing a local
guide to help support the local economy as the money flows back into the
community, this will be identified as a direct narrative. Indirect narratives by the
YouTube influencer will include mentioning a sustainable travel behavior or action
for non-sustainable reasons. For example, a YouTube influencer promoting the use
of a bike in a city as a cheaper and more convenient option, rather than
environmental will be considered an indirect narrative of environmental
sustainability.

Prior to coding, the research identifies frames for sustainable travel into three
categories; social, economic and environmental sustainability. Within each of these
categories are sub-codes. Social sustainability refers to topics, phrases or words
referring to cultural aspects, historic aspects, independent traveling and interacting
with locals/community. Economic sustainability will be identified by reference to
accommodation and local restaurants or shops. Environmental impacts within
tourism studies research remains crude (Buckley, 2011). Therefore, environmental
sustainability refers to nature appreciation, environmental materials/goods and
transportation. This research acknowledges frames built around particular values
may be more effective in communication (Chong & Druckman, 2007). For
example, conservation organizations are likely to be more convincing and
persuasive with a message when it is linked to the quality of drinking water (Chong
& Druckman, 2007). Yet environmental frames are often strong when referring to

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local issues like controlling growth and addressing the common resource pool, yet
weak when it is in a larger scope like global issues (Chong & Druckman, 2007).

Frames in video communication and social media

Media is powerful and disseminates information across many channels. Frames
within social media is never neutral (O’Neill, Williams, Kurz, et al., 2015). Previous
research regarding frames in social media are few and are relevant to video
communications. Frames define issues, identify causes and help the public make
moral judgements (O’Neill, Williams, Kurz, et al., 2015). Frames are increasingly
important in the age of social media. People are increasingly reliant on media to
help interpret and understand more complex issues (O’Neill, Williams, Kurz, et al.,
2015). In this instance the complex issue is sustainability and sustainable travel. One
previous study uses frames to analyze video communication specifically relating to
the news and broadcasting of climate change (O’Neill, Williams, Kurz et al., 2015).
The paper covers the production and consumption of climate change media
(O’Neill, Williams, Kurz et al., 2015). It also shows that cultural availability of
visual content and accessible storylines are important to media coverage framing
(O’Neill, Williams, Kurz et al., 2015). Visual content is important alongside
narratives, or storytelling. There is an enormous variety of videos which exist in this
digital age. Due to major multimedia technology advancements there is a
significant amount of video data generated (Ejaz, Mehmood & Wook Baik, 2013).
The video data that is analyzed within this research is “native” video data
(Knoblauch, Tuma & Schnettler, 2013). Native video data refers to videos that are
produced by actors other than the researcher (Knoblauch, Tuma & Schnettler,
2013). YouTube content is native video data. This research examines frames of
video communication, specifically pre-recorded and globally shared. Ejaz,
Mehmood & Wook Baik, (2013) explain that video data can be summarized using
two basic methods; video skimming and key frame extraction. Video skimming is
ideal for shorter duration of videos, whereas key frame extraction techniques create
summaries from extracting salient frames (Ejaz, Mehmood & Wook Baik, 2013).
Key frame extraction provides better browsing capabilities (Ejaz, Mehmood &
Wook Baik, 2013). Literature shows the analysis of video communication being
quite complex and relates to psychology. When research attempts to understand and

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research the human visual attention system, it becomes quantitative and less
interpretative. Visual attention is one method to understand where people look on a
video (Ejaz, Mehmood & Wook Baik, 2013). Given the interpretative analysis of
this research visual cues will support narrative codes, but will not be analyzed.
Overall, there is little research regarding the analysis of video communication
within the social media context, and specifically regarding YouTube and sustainable
travel. Frames in social media tend to cover news media and there is little regarding
frames in social media video communications.

Brief Overview of Theoretical Foundations Utilized in the Study

Theoretical frameworks used in this study is social learning theory. Although a
number of theories are used in previous literature, none are quite suited for the study
of how travel vlogs on YouTube discuss sustainable travel and the perception of
these sustainable travel messages. Social learning theory justifies that individuals
learn or develops motives from exposure to direct or indirect social interactions
(Lim, Mohd Radson, Cheah et al., 2017). Social interactions and settings are
referred to the online social relations from social media but in this instance
YouTube influencers. Social learning theory is further explained below. There are
two theories which also justify the need for this research. Social media influencers
and their impact through perception are critical for further understanding and
research.

Source credibility theory is important to understand as a justification for this

research. Source credibility is the concept that audiences view a source to gain
knowledge and information (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017). In order for YouTube
influencers to exhibit source credibility, they must be perceived as trustworthy,
expertise level and attractiveness (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017). As credibility
was explored in the literature review, this theory is well suited for why this research
is needed. There is little research which addresses YouTube travel vloggers and
sustainable travel, nor specifically their source credibility. Source credibility theory
specifically depends on the quality of an argument which relates greater to the
sustainability lists explored within this study. This theory suggests that when people

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see valid arguments or reviews about a destination or sustainable travel aspects,
audiences will develop a positive attitude towards the endorsed destination or
practice (Djafarova, Rushworth, 2017).

Another theory which supports the justification for this research is the halo effect
theory. It is a social theory which assumed that influencers and vloggers alike create
a positive or negative 'halo' around them (Djafarova, Rushworth, 2017). The idea is
that an influencer or vlogger surrounds themselves with like-minded and similar
people, therefore a viewer will more likely trust and like other influencers, promoted
by the vlogger/influencer they currently trust/watch. In simpler terms, people are
more likely to like an influencer, if a 'friend' suggested them and likes them
(Djafarova, Rushworth, 2017).

Brief Overview of Literature Reviewed, Discussed and Applied

Literature that was reviewed shows an array of different theories. Most previous
literature attempts to understand the level of trust, authenticity and perceived
credibility of social media influencers, using theories like source credibility theory.
Previous literature also looks the level of persuasion or what influences purchase
intentions. Most of the research revolves around the marketing aspect of products
using social media influencers. Influencer marketing regarding communication uses
goal-framing theory, reactance theory, attribution theory, communication theory,
persuasion theory but most importantly framing theory as the field is still new and
unexplored.

Theoretical Framework
The social learning theory by Bandura has been used in abundance within academic
research, especially in the communication and marketing industries (Bush et al,
2004 as cited in Lim, Mohd Radzon, Cheah et al., 2017). This theory will be used as
the theoretical framework.

As the objective of this research is to increase sustainable travel awareness and

actions, it is first important understand how popular travel vlogs on YouTube

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discuss sustainable travel. Social learning theory justifies that individuals learn or
develops motives from exposure to direct or indirect social scenarios and
interactions (Lim, Mohd Radson, Cheah et al., 2017). Individual motivations and
attitudes can be shaped by social settings. Social learning is the basis for learning
through or mediated by social interactions (Brunstein, Jaimie, Curi et al., 2015). In
the context of this study, social interactions extend to online social interactions. As
previously mentioned in the literature review, para-social interactions are online
interactions and relationships which develop through interactivity and credibility
(Sokolova & Kefi, 2019). Social learning theory has emerged to understand how
different social actors, like influencers, have been understood to address
environmental problems and climate change, as well as education for sustainability
(Brunstein, Jaimie, Curi et al., 2015). In this research’s definition of social learning
it considers para-social relationships and interactions as a new form of social
setting. Sustainability is about how we teach and learn equally as it is what we are
teaching and learning (Swartling et al., 2011; as cited in Brunstein, Jaimie, Curi et
al., 2015). Social learning is a relevant framework for processes of social change
(Koutsouris, 2009). Social learning often can only occur if it allows cooperation,
trust, intuition and inspiration (Koutsouris, 2009). It is also stated that the value of
information, socio-demographic information and past experiences of tourists affect
their perception of social media channels, when viewing travel-related information
(Sun, Law & Luk, 2018).

The theoretical framework of social learning justifies that if people view enough
sustainable travel content on YouTube, it could lead to people thinking and acting
more sustainably. This theory helps to understand consumer consumption through
socializations of celebrities, in this instance online microcelebrities. Due to the halo
effect, messages of sustainable travel can be indirectly shared with growing social
networks.

A few terms will need to be clarified in terms of the research below. The term
“sustainability” is used in this paper as general broader term as it is constantly
evolving a dynamic (Gössling, 2017). Sustainable travel is defined as decisions and
actions during a trip which promotes social, economic and/or environmental
sustainability. For example, social sustainability refers to the cultural/heritage

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aspects of a destination and interactions with the locals and local
community/network. Economic sustainability is defined as aspects which inject
capital into the local economy. Finally, environmental sustainability could refer to a
multitude of descriptors such as environmentally friendly materials, reduction of
carbon emissions or even animal conservation. It also aligns with Beckendorff,
Sheldon, & Fesenmaier, 2014; as cited in Gössling, 2017 approach to sustainability,
social equity relating to social sustainability, physical integrity – environmental
sustainability and local prosperity – economic sustainability. Vlogs or ‘video blogs’
are considered online videos generated to inform and be shared on online platforms
like YouTube. Vlogs are considered user-generated content. Social media
influencers as previously stated are ‘successful’ individuals that create a substantial
following, by generating their own content and creating a specific brand. Success in
regards to this research is considered having a following of at least 1 million
subscribers.

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Theoretical Framework applying social learning theory:

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6 Methods
Philosophical Foundations
The philosophical foundation of this methodology is based on a social
constructionism approach. Pernckey (2012) even states it is not uncommon for
researcher to use social constructionism and social constructivism interchangeably.
The research acknowledges the confusion and interchangeability behind social
constructionism and social constructivism (Crotty, 1998 as cited in Hollingshead,
2006). It henceforth refers to social constructionism in its own terms. It recognizes
the cousin banner of social constructivism (Crotty, 1998 as cited in Hollingshead,
2006). Yet, when referencing other academic articles, it will use the terminology
used by the original authors.

Considering Crotty’s (1998) proposed distinction between the two terms;

constructivism examines the meaning-making activity of the individual mind,
whereas constructionism is employed in the study of collective generation and
transmission of meaning (Pernecky, 2012). Social constructionism seeks the many
truths associated with in this case a travel vlog (Butowski, 2019). Additionally,
Butowski (2019) treats the opinions of concerned people as the most important
factor. Considering this distinction, this research is more social constructionism as it
seeks to understand the collective ways YouTube vlogs discuss sustainable travel as
well as how a sample of millennials perceive messages of sustainable travel. This
research explains how people experience and describe the world they live in, which
is principally defined as social constructionism (Pernecky, 2012). Given Golinsky
(1998) states there is no agreement as to how the social element should be specified,
it is assumed by Hacking (1998) that most items claimed to be socially constructed
could be constructed only socially (Pernecky, 2012). As a social constructionist, the
research will look for common forms of “constructs” or views of the world, which is
shared by most people in society. (Slife & Williams, 1995; as cited in Pernecky,
2012). Social constructionism is more perspectivity than objectivity, applicable in
this instance of interpretative research, as well as relativism than realism (Pernecky,
2012). It does not try to rule out what is fundamentally real and not real, it simple
states that what exists, simply is (Gergen, 2009; as cited in Pernecky, 2012).
Additionally, Facebook and other social media sites are considered powerful agents

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in the construction of touristic realities, YouTube vlogs fit the same classification
and is social constructionism (Pernecky, 2012). This is reinforced by Galbin (2014)
stating social constructionism sees the language and communication as a central
interactive process through which we understand the world and ourselves.
Constructionists’ encourage the awareness and importance of how we categorize
ourselves, others and the world around us (Loseke, 1999; as cited in Pernecky,
2012). Social constructionism examines communication and the development
jointly constructed to understand the world (Galbin, 2014). Essentially that people
work together to construct artifacts, specifically in the case of social
constructionism, it is how people create these artifacts through social interactions
(Galbin, 2014). Constructionism is further justified in this research as it is not
concerned with the physical world but how we understand the world (Loseke, 1999;
as cited in Pernecky, 2012). Some studies utilize constructionism at a methodology
to examine different perspectives of stakeholders involved, to demonstrate various
understandings (Ryan & Gu, 2010; as cited in Pernecky, 2012).

Social constructivism is the learning or knowledge acquisition (Doolittle, 1999).

Constructivism attempts to reconstruct the world variably from multiple and
changing perspectives (Guba, 1990 as cited in Hollingshead, 2006) Social
constructionism/constructivism strongly related to social sciences and in this case
sustainable tourism as a multi-disciplinary field. Constructivism is not a strict
position, but is a continuum. Constructivism includes the interactivity, where the
findings are a creation of a process of interactions between both inquirer and
inquired (Hollingshead, 2006). The essence of constructivism is heavily based on its
subjectivity and relativity (Doolittle, 1999). Meaning how people learn is highly
subjective and relative depending on each individual. Since reality may exist
differently than a person's experience, each person's learnings are created uniquely,
making unique realities (Doolittle, 1999). Constructionism is essentially how people
learn and construct their own understanding of something to create knowledge
through experiences and reflection. YouTube vlogs are a type of storytelling
between speaker and listener. This study uses a social constructionist approach as it
analyzes the knowledge and experiences expressed by individuals through YouTube
videos as well as identifying constructs which viewers perceive. Constructionist

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narrative analysis focuses on the language of the speaker as well as considers the
social constructs and cultural relations that exist in society (Esin, Fathi & Squire,
2013). Framing theory will be used to analyze narratives. This study additionally
assesses how individuals perceive and reflect on sustainability messages potentially
expressed in the videos. Constructionist narrative analysis focuses on the language
of the speaker as well as considers the social constructs and cultural relations that
exist in society (Esin, Fathi & Squire, 2013). It also focuses on the social
phenomena or social states that are produced from the speaker, and not the internal
conditions of each individual (Esin, Fathi & Squire, 2013).

As the second part of this thesis question is reception; narrative analysis using
framing will help understand how the audience receive the information/narrative
(Esin, Fathi & Squire, 2013). The narrative analysis of this thesis will aim to
segment sustainability messaging referring to any of the sustainability pillars;
environmental, social and/or economic. The research will consider the element of
language, and how sustainability is discussed or mentioned at all within the
YouTube videos selected.

Reflection on role of researcher

As a social constructionist, the research seeks to comprehend the knowledge or the
reality of sustainable travel and its messages. This topic is relatable as tourism
despite the recent drop due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is one of the major
industries in the world. The research considers prior to the pandemic, that
sustainable tourism is vital to pursue due to over tourism and anti-tourism
sentiments growing in certain areas around the globe. Over tourism/anti-tourism
mitigation plans must include all three pillars of sustainability to achieve and
maintain success. If one pillar takes precedence over the others, the foundation is
bound to collapse and this has been an interesting, political and complicated
reflection. The increase understanding and awareness of the common resource pool
can hopefully inspire changes in attitude and behavior. As a result of the pandemic
which has changed the tourism industry like never before, sustainable travel may be
the next adaptation. Additionally, marketing and strategic communication are one
major force to understand and utilize to educate and potentially influence. The hours
invested into selecting YouTube content and attempting to identify ideal or popular

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travel vlogs created a new knowledge or reality, that sustainable travel messages are
relatively limited and indirect. Particularly focusing on millennials, due to their
activity, interactivity and purchase power, they are reflectively the target audience.

Research design
This research will highlight ‘popular’ travel influencers on YouTube as an example
of a social media platform which is widely used by active internet users. Videos
from the travel influencers will be selected and analyzed with the purpose of
answering the research question; how do top travel vlogs discuss/encourage
sustainable travel behaviour? YouTube videos allow researchers to analyze the
narrative discussed by the vlogger, review images that are shown and replay the
videos for the interview process. This study seeks to understand how top YouTube
travel influencers discuss sustainability. It will explore the narratives and reception.
The research will assess and identify sustainability messages relating to any or all of
the sustainability pillars; economic, environmental, and social.

The research employed case selection. The video blogs or vlogs selected from the
online platform YouTube were based on a specific criterion. Firstly, the research
determined successful or popular YouTube travel channels. Successful or popular
YouTube travel channels were defined as channels which had at least 1 million
subscribers and self-identified as a travel vlogger. Cases identified showed a pattern
of singles or couples. These individuals’ backgrounds were often consistent with
quitting their previous jobs to travel the world full time. YouTube travel vloggers
that were also not considered were young families or singles/groups who travel the
world fulltime by sailboat or yacht. The justification for this is that the average
millennial searching for a vacation destination are not likely to use this as research
information or do the same and quit their jobs to travel by sailboat fulltime. These
videos were deemed less relatable and transferable to the average millennial group
completing research for their next vacation. The researcher specifically searched for
lists using key words like “Top YouTube travel vloggers” or a variation of these
words, such as “Top YouTube travel channels”, "Top Travel influencers on
YouTube”. The criteria for 'top' travel vlogs include video footage of a destination

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visited and the vlogger/influencer discussing the destination, activities and
surroundings while narrating and recording. Narration over the video and/or added
text to the video during the editing stage were also accepted within this study.
Videos with no narration or text information were not considered, meaning videos
which were compilations of video footage and images of a destination edited with
music in the background. The research aimed to cross-compare several travel
influencers on multiple lists, ensuring popularity and high viewership. The research
sought to select the channels which appeared on multiple lists. Although, after
researching several sites, viewing and studying YouTube channels and videos, few
travel YouTube channels appeared on more than two lists. Four channels were
identified to fit in the criteria and were selected; Kara & Nate, The Vagabrothers,
Lost Leblanc and Fun for Louis. Although there a number of other ‘travel channels
which also have 1 million subscribers or more and are identified as travel
influencers, they were not selected if they did not seem transferable to the common
millennial planning and researching for their next trip, as previously stated.
Although travel influencers like these do tend to be more sustainable and
sustainably aware, it is of low probability most millennials do the same. Therefore,
travel influencers whom share clips, segments and guides to specific destinations
around the globe are selected. Once the four travel channels were identified, dozens
of hours of content were viewed and examined for general content and sustainability
messaging.

This study initially identified popular/successful YouTube travel influencers by

subscribers, then hoped to select a common destination which all YouTube
influencers had visited and documented. Unfortunately, although travel influencers
have traveled to many destinations, no mutual destination was identified which had
been traveled by all four travel influencers. Additionally, after viewing hours of
travel influencer content, sustainability elements proved difficult to identify. The
researcher sought to identify both direct and indirect sustainability messages. No
‘popular’ travel vlogs directly addressed sustainable travel. Little to nothing of
sustainability, sustainable travel or responsible travel were mentioned and a
common destination could not be found.

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As a result of this research roadblock an exploratory pilot research was conducted.
A small sample of international millennials were shown three videos and
interviewed. The three videos were selected based on three different levels of
subscribers; this was done in hopes to broaden the pool of YouTube travel
influencers. One travel vlog was chosen based on the top tier of 1 million
influencers or more, by The Vagabrothers. The second travel vlog was selected from
a travel influencer in the mid-range of subscribers of 435,000, by Margo Lee also
known as a micro-celebrity. Finally, the third travel vlog was from a lesser known
influencer with 184,000 subscribers, by Use Less, this video was specifically chosen
after searching for “sustainable travel”.

The selection of these videos by the researcher intended to cover a diversity in

professionalism and variance in popularity as an influencer to determine if there
were any major determinants which distracted from the messaging. All three videos
were advertised as travel guides to London, England. The third travel vlog by Use
Less emphasized ‘sustainable city guide’ within the title and was specifically
searched and selected for using the terms “sustainable travel”. The researcher
intended to observe the differences in narratives and perception with this specific
sustainable travel video. Each video ranged from 10-25 minutes long.

Interviewees were asked to watch the video while on the phone or video call with
the researcher, and then directly proceeding the video answer the questions found in
Appendix A. Responses to these three interviews proved to be similar. These
questions inquired about direct or indirect messages of sustainable travel. Examples
of questions include: What kind of impression or information did you take away,
“What do you think was the main point of the video or what was the influencer
trying to convey? “and “Did you feel sense of sustainability was expressed?”. These
interviews intended to identify a) if sustainable travel elements are perceived and b)
what kind of sustainability messages are perceived. It is important to note that after
the exploratory pilot research was completed the three videos were included in the
coding process, but not the results below, due to the number of questions and gaps
found within these videos/interviews.

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The three videos selected for this exploratory research was prior to the four travel
influencers found as due to the exploratory research raised the issue of interviewees
travel style preference. Some interviewees in the exploratory interviews revealed
they would not select this video to watch, because of the style and type of
destination. Interviewees expressed their preference for adventure/rural travel rather
than city/urban travel. Other considerations raised were distracting or ‘annoying’
influencers. Some of the interviewees also expressed being distracted by the poorer
quality of video and described influencers as ‘annoying’ and ‘fake’. This relates
back to the literature demonstrating the importance of authenticity and credibility.
Additionally, one of the videos was deemed misleading, as it claimed to be a city
guide to a new destination, yet related little to tourism within the city. Instead this
video shared unconventional activities such as hair salons, nail salons and vintage
shopping. The research deemed this video with a high likelihood of bounce out rate
as it would not likely be considered a travel vlog. As a result of the learnings in this
exploratory research, four travel channels were chosen, and as a result of the
exploratory pilot study, two videos per travel channel were identified and selected
for analysis and viewing.

Since the exploratory interviews exposed the lack of sustainable travel messages
within top YouTube travel vlogs. This study shifted to seek ‘popular’ travel
influencers on YouTube, meaning whom have over 1 million subscribers, with
corresponding city and adventure videos. Four major YouTube influencers were
identified. Additionally, these 8 videos will be analyzed using narrative analysis.
Furthermore, a search for sustainable travel videos will be conducted. The research
will also attempt to use key words such as; conscious travel, experiential travel, and
transformative travel, to broaden the search.

Sources of evidence
Sources of evidence that were used in this study include video blogs from the online
platform YouTube. Video data provides richness of detail in communication
analysis (Knoblauch, Tuma & Schnettler, 2013). Not only are video data rich in
details but also is beneficial in its permanence to analyze. Hundreds of videos were

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viewed throughout the study to gain knowledge and perspective of the diversity in
content and how to conduct the research. Only content spoken and written in
English were considered. Eight vlogs were chosen from four respective influencer
channels with 1 million or more subscribers. From each channel, two types of travel
vlogs were selected and categorized based on city and adventure travel types. It has
been previously argued that sustainable tourism should be employed in both urban
and rural contexts, hence the additional justification for city vs. adventure travel
vlogs (Liburd, 2008). Social media influencers are online celebrities in online
communities and often these communities coincide. It was noted during the research
and selection process that the four ‘popular’ YouTube travel channels did not
interact with each other and their networks were separate. In other instances,
vloggers refer viewers to other vloggers to create a community and establish a sense
of support.

Furthermore, four travel vlogs which were found explicitly searching with the key
terms ‘sustainable travel’. Only one YouTube influencer from the four chosen
‘popular’ travel channels appeared to have content regarding sustainable travel, on
top of their destination advice and trip exploring videos. Therefore, two other travel
vlogs from different influencers of lower popularity. These travel vlogs demonstrate
the differences in number of views and differences in sustainability messaging.
Sustainable travel messages and vlogs are significantly less followed as channels
but also there is lower viewership. The sustainable travel channels show slightly
greater social connections and networking, this likely is due to the smaller
community that follows or promotes sustainable travel.

The preliminary search for the sample for this study will first be determined by 'top
YouTube travel vlogger/influencers' lists published online. The sample will then
broaden to top YouTube travel influencers who have at least 1 million subscribers.
Based on the literature, the criteria of 'top YouTube travel influencers' must; have
more than 1 million followers, likes or views. The amount of travel related content
will be considered to determine the criteria of a 'travel vlogger or influencer'. This is
self-identified; YouTube influencers must self-identify as a travel vlogger.

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Cross examining the top 10-15 influencers within this criterion, will define the
sample size. Additionally, within the research question, a sample of interviews will
be conducted. There will be approximately 8 interviewees of each gender. The
participant will range in nationalities from, German, Swedish, Scottish, Swiss,
Spanish, Hungarian, Syrian, Iranian, American, Mexican & Canadian. All
interviewees are active YouTube users and consider themselves as relatively
independent travelers, especially regarding research. The intention is to create a
diverse yet begin an in-depth understanding of how and if sustainability messages in
tourism are received. This sample will consist of interviewees between the ages of
20-35, to be considered millennials, as previously justified millennials have the
greatest buying power. The sixteen interviewees genders and nationality diversity
bring greater diversity in reception and perspectives of the travel vlogs, accounting
for social constructs.

Another source of evidence in this research were interviews. 20 interviews were

conducted with an even distribution of 10 female interviewees and 10 male
interviewees. All within the described criteria between 20-35 years old and
YouTube users. The interviews were semi-structured interviews with 14 questions.
Two questions aided in the self-perception of travel experience and the other
regarding sustainability. 12 questions were based on their perception of the video
they selected

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 Research process
As a result of the exploratory pilot research the research process proceeded with the
four YouTube travel channels identified after the pilot. Since the exploratory
research revealed interviewee travel style/type of destination preferences, the
researcher had to consider the choice a millennial would take to select a travel video
from YouTube. Therefore, a simple PowerPoint presentation was created for
interviewees to select the type of travel they wish to hypothetically research, as well

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as the video they would like to view out of four options, but only two different
destinations. The two destinations are due to the fact, one common destination
documented by all four travel influencers was not identified. These eight travel
videos were screenshot from their original form on YouTube to replicated the look
and titles of videos on YouTube. This allows for interviewees to select their video
as naturally as they might while conducting their own destination research. These
videos were viewed and analyzed based on their narratives with the support of
images or video footage. Images of beaches and animals were supporting factors to
the nature appreciation code of environmental sustainability yet it was also noted in
memos the images which pictured ‘negative’ or ‘unsustainable’ travel practices,
such as trash along beaches or overcrowding due to tourism, these images may
influence the perception side of the research as well. Images from the video were
not specifically analyzed through video skimming or key frame extraction (Ejaz,
Mehmood & Wook Baik, 2013).

This research was unable to do visual attention-based framework considering the

limitation of time and scope of the project. Eight videos were coded using the three
pillars of sustainability; economic, environmental and social. For further
clarification on coding, see below. Additionally, due to the lack of direct sustainable
travel messages, the research chose to include four additional videos which
appeared in a search for ‘sustainable travel’, as mentioned within the sources of
evidence. These four videos were also analyzed and coded to gain an understanding
of how these videos discuss sustainable travel messages. Following the coding
process, interviews were also conducted.

As seen below (see Appendix A) the presentation was sent to each interviewee prior
to the video call. Each interviewee could select the type of destination they are most
likely to research next. The point of this PowerPoint was to address different types
of preferences from the millennial group as well as the diversity in content. Given
the time limitation of the research this PowerPoint enabled the research to gain
insight on eight travel videos rather than selecting one “best” case. The intention of
the research sought for interviewees to engage with travel videos that were relevant
to them. The choice selection was intended to mimic the real situation of an
interviewee selecting a video based on their interests. Interviewees would select a

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video based on how YouTube would normally present their videos. The intention of
this, was to avoid interviewees not viewing the video, and perceiving any messages
due to the lack of interest. The interviewees must generally and genuinely be
interested, as to exemplify content they are likely to consume. This aids in more
valid measurement in the results to gauge what is likely to be perceived from travel
vlogs on YouTube. The research is a vignette-based interview, attempting to
identify millennials reactions based on the videos selected and presented. This
presentation establishes a common point of reference for all of the interviews.
Interviewees must view and select their video through the presentation, a consistent
process, shown the same thumbnails, across 20 interviewees. Each interviewee
selected their video choice, viewed it, then were immediately asked the below
aforementioned interview questions (see Appendix B) over a Facebook video call.
Short-hand notes were taken as transcriptions of the interviews. These transcriptions
were then later coded to the three sustainability pillars; economic, environmental
and social. Memos were also created if there were notable remarks, quotes or a new
theme emerged.

Analytical strategy
Framing theory is the analytical framework used in this study. It captures how
‘popular’ travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel and how these messages are
received. It is an interpretative framework which helps attach meanings to processes
and a phenomenon (Goffman, 1974; as cited in Uggla & Olausson, 2013). Framing
theory is best used to organize ideas and are shaped by culture and socialization.
Therefore, framing theory coincides adequately with social learning theory the
theoretical framework used for this research. Framing theory is selected as the
mediazation processes of advertising include aspects of reality and exclude others
(Uggla & Olausson, 2013). As stated by Uggla & Olausson (2013) framing
mechanisms in tourism advertising provide valuable clues on how they relate to new
information about a destination to existing frames.

Narratives are essentially stories which are written or spoken accounts of people's
experiences and lives. Narratives help social researchers explore and understand
how people story their lives (Esin, Fathi & Squire, 2013). Framing within narrative
analysis seeks to understand how people construct or frame notions of sustainable

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travel. Qualitative content analysis fits this study as part of its methodology due to
its systematic and flexible criteria (Schreier, 2013). Qualitative content analysis will
allow this research to focus on specific aspects, like sustainability within travel and
their meanings. The reason qualitative content analysis is fitting, is that it helps with
reducing the amount of data or material rather than adding to the data (Schreier,
2013). More specifically narrative analysis will be used to conduct this research.
Since this is qualitative research the assessment of travel vlog narratives as well as
interview narratives are what the research uses to identify patterns and themes of
what sustainable travel messages are being conveyed but also which are being
perceived by the small sample of millennials. Reinforced by Peralta (2019) this
paper also will assess viewer response and complete content and visual analysis.

This research seeks to identify how YouTube travel vloggers support sustainable
travel in the online community. Narrative analysis is essential to human
communication and interaction (Peralta, 2019). Since it depicts people's experiences
and how they perceive it, is logically fits this research. Narrative analysis helps to
understand how people "represent and restructure the world" (Peralta, 2019). Travel
vlogs are people’s experiences and stories shared through the online platform of
YouTube. Narrative analysis is the study of stories and experiences of using first
person (Riessman, 1993; as cited in Peralta, 2019). They help researchers
comprehend the diverse and different stories (Esin, Fathi & Squire, 2013). Narrative
analysis is a tool which analyze interviewees experiences, for example social
inequalities, or in this study's case sustainability and sustainable travel. As this study
focuses on sustainability narratives it is important to define and outline what are
sustainability narratives. Within this paper sustainability narratives refer to the three
pillars or categories of sustainability, economic, environmental and social.

Economic sustainability along with environmental sustainability are more clearly

defined. Economic sustainability refers to supporting the local community or
destination with capital. Economic sustainability can also be defined as ensuring
local prosperity (Gössling, 2017). For example, economic sustainability includes
staying in guesthouses or with locals, eating at local restaurants or purchasing from
local businesses like shops and markets. Essentially economic sustainability helps
inject capital into the local economy.

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Environmental sustainability is likely the most well-known or at the forefront of
minds when thinking about sustainability. It can also be defined as making optimal
use of environmental resources like nature-based attractions, which still maintain
essential ecological processes and helping preserve the environment and
biodiversity (Gössling, 2017). Environmental sustainability narratives in this
research will include environmentally friendly transportations, environmentally
friendly materials, nature appreciation, waste management, carbon emissions,
animal treatment and welfare.

Social sustainability is likely the least understood of the sustainability types

(Dempsey, Bramley, Power & Brown, 2011). Social sustainability narratives will
include references to sharing cultural aspects, historical information, engaging with
the local interactions and participating in the local community. Respecting the
socio-cultural authenticity of a host destination conserving their history and
heritage, and contributing to the inter-cultural understanding and tolerance is the
essence of social sustainability (Gössling, 2017). Discussed below, codes follow
these guidelines of the social sustainability definition.

Data Coding: Coding was used as a method to symbolically assign attributes of

sustainability to the travel vlogs. This research sought patterns and similarities to
explain how and understand the frequency of these topics. The YouTube videos
were categorized as ‘popular travel vlogs’ meaning city travel vlogs or adventure
travel vlogs. City travel vlogs refer to the city-centered options about Amsterdam or
Copenhagen. A city vlog is defined as a destination with significant infrastructure,
buildings, public transportation and bases their attractions on indoor or urban
activities. Adventure travel vlogs are considered so by their nature factors. An
adventure travel vlog is categorized by the lack of urban population, buildings and
infrastructure, their attractions are nature-based and rural. Finally, the last category
of travel vlog is the ‘sustainable travel vlog’. This vlog is not as rigidly defined as
the two other categories, as they are vlogs found upon the specific search for
‘sustainable travel’ on YouTube. These four types of videos divide the different
types of content analyzed. They were also coded for social, economic and
environmental sustainability. Narratives and imagery that refer to any of these
categories were coded. Vlogs were coded for ‘economic sustainability’,

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‘environmental sustainability’ and ‘social sustainability’. Each of these main codes
also contained several sub-codes. Economic sustainability sub-codes include
‘accommodation’ and ‘local shops/restaurants’. Environmental sustainability sub-
codes contain ‘nature appreciation’, ‘environmentally friendly materials’ and
‘transportation’. Social sustainability which is more difficult to address is sub-coded
as ‘independent traveling/self-discovery’, ‘interacting with locals/communities’,
‘cultural aspects’ and ‘historical aspects. There were 41 memos created, 488 codes.
The memos address ‘unsustainable’ messages noted. Coding helps make it easier for
information to be interpreted. Assigning codes to specific phrases and words helps
to better analyze and summarize. The research uses deductive coding, meaning pre
assigned/defined/established codes and sub-codes.

Research limitations

Not all research is created equal, qualitative research like any has its flaws or
weaknesses. One of the research limitations of this design was how time consuming
and labor intensive it was. Dozens of hours of preliminary searches were completed
to understand the scope and the different types of YouTube channels and vlogs
existed. Due to the limited time to complete this research, 15 travel vlogs were
viewed, selected and analyzed. The research timeline could only allow a certain
volume/hours of YouTube content to be identified and analyzed. Several lists of
“top” travel influencers were scoured and dissected to determine a reasonable
criterion relevant to the research question. Additionally, the channels or influencers
chosen had significant reach, following and sufficient content with similar
destinations and travel styles proved difficult. Qualitative research is also very
particular and detailed. As the researcher worked through hours of vlogs and
interviews, small or incremental details could have been missed. Along with how
time consuming and detailed qualitative research is, it also proves to be difficult to
verify. This type of research is impossible to replicate exactly, as the YouTube
vlogs selected could be identical, yet interviewing the same sample would be nearly
impossible. Also, in the instance the same sample could be accessed, there are a
number of new variables to consider such as priming. The interviewees have already
undergone this interview, therefore likely providing different or perhaps more
insightful answers as it is the second cycle. Another limitation of this study, is the

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lack of previous studies that match this topic and research design. As previously
discuss, the sample size selected was incredibly diverse. The diversity served a
purpose to resonate with the diversity and borderless audience of YouTube viewers,
but could cause other weaknesses such as cultural or communication differences.
The original design process planned for a smaller sample size of 10, within the
millennial range. Due to the change in video selection, where interviewees selected
their own video to comment on, the number of interviewees increased to 20 in hopes
to cover all eight videos from the above slideshow presentation. During the analysis
process of the narratives, images were not specifically analyzed but lent support to
the salience of specific narratives. This research acknowledges the this is a potential
limitation and could be an area for further research. The research is a starting point
to begin to understand the phenomenon of travel social media influencers on
YouTube discussing sustainable travel.

Reliability and validity

In order for this narrative analysis to be valid and reliable. It must address verite (the
why), integrity (is it logical), rigour (is it in-depth), utility (is the work relevant to
the profession), and finally vitality (is it important and meaningful) (Peralta, 2019).
Due to the fact that realities in narratives cannot be expected to replicate itself,
because stories and experiences happen in different ways and circumstances, the
concept of validity and reliability are not relevant in the context of narrative analysis
(Peralta, 2019). The key to validity and reliability within narrative analysis is being
thorough, honest and transparent. The research conducted attempted to take as many
notes and document each thought and process taken to address thoroughness. The
lack of findings and shift in research also demonstrate the transparency of the work.
Validity and reliability are also assured when the research shows saturation. As the
exploratory interviews initially demonstrate, interviewees answers became similar.

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7 Findings/Results
Brief Overview of Material
Materials used within this study include extensive computer usage including the
programs, Microsoft Word, OneNote, Excel for note taking, writing and information
gathering. Additionally, academic journals were accessed through Google Scholar.
Mendeley was utilized to organize and manage academic sources throughout the
research. Videos from YouTube were transcribed using YouTubes transcripts

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options. MAXQDA was the software used to code and analyze the videos’
narratives and the interviews conducted. Facebook Video calls were utilized to
conduct live video interviews with the 23 interviewees. The researcher transcribed
live during interviews into an excel spreadsheet. Short hand transcriptions of the
interviewee’s response to questions as well as their thought process aloud.

Brief Descriptive Analysis

In total 15 YouTube videos were analyzed, which equaled 167.83 minutes or 2.98
hours. Within the sample of videos, there were 179 social related sustainability cues,
115 economic sustainability cues and 191 environmental sustainability cues.
YouTube travel vlogs ranged from 3 minutes to 14 minutes, with one exception at
26 minutes. The sample used for this study were 12 females and 11 males. Three
interviewees were interviewed for the exploratory research and 20, with an even
split of 50/50 males and females for the main interview research. All the
interviewees are between the ages 20-35. Interviewees are nationals of: Canada,
United States, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Hungary, Iran and
Syria. This study acknowledges the diversity of interviewees used within this study.
Qualitative studies do not have much generalizability and are exploratory, or
exemplar. The intention of the researcher to seek cultural diversity, is to cater to the
fact that YouTube vlogs can be accessed by multiple nations. Online vlog content is
not regularly restricted by borders or geographical constrictions. This research
intends to provide cultural diversity to better understand if sustainable travel
messages are received despite the wide range in nationalities of interviewees. It is
acknowledged that a disadvantage to cultural diversity are communication issues or
obstacles. As this is a framing analysis, people construct their perceptions and
meanings differently.

Frame analysis maintains that people all actively classify, organize and interpret life
experiences in our own way to make sense of them (Goffman, 1974, as cited in Pan
& Kosicki, 1993). People locate, perceive, identify and label everything, essentially
into a schemata of interpretations (Goffman, 1974, as cited in Pan & Kosicki, 1993).
When using frame analysis, it is important to avoid reducing the content to mere
topics and themes (Olausson, 2009; Reese, 2007 as cited in Uggla & Olausson,
2013). The topic of a narrative is only one element of many which makes up a

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whole frame (Uggla & Olausson, 2013). How frames intersect and interrelate is
important in communicating texts (Uggla & Olausson, 2013).

As framing theory provides little guidance. This study uses the following analytical
toolbox to guide the process of framing. This toolbox is based on three pillars of
sustainability but more specifically relate to sustainable travel. Analytical tools that
are also used are repetition of information and association of information with
sustainability (Uggla & Olausson, 2013). Repetition refers to how often pieces of
information are mentioned and association of information is in what ways pieces of
information are anchored to sustainability and thus more prominent. Additionally,
framing devices used in the analysis also include visual images and distinction.
(Uggla & Olausson, 2013). Visual images which make the information more salient
as well as distinctions mentioned will be noted.
The results will be reported below using three thematic headings of economic
sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability. These frames
are inspired by the United Nations’ three pillars of sustainable development
(Sustainable Development | UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC and SOCIAL
COUNCIL, 2020). The concepts of sustainable development are not identical to
those of sustainable travel but have been adapted to the commonalities likely
mentioned in a travel vlog. Economic sustainability in this paper concerns local
economy including accommodations and the mention of local restaurants and
businesses. Environmental sustainability here indicates nature appreciation and
environmental-friendly materials and transportation. Social sustainability refers to
cultural constructs and historical aspects of a destination, alongside mentioning or
encouraging interactions with locals.

How did travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel?

This research attempts to determine how travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel. In
the initial stages of research, it was exposed that sustainable travel is sporadically
discussed within popular YouTube travel vlogs. This led to the research design to be
modified. According to the eight travel vlogs which were selected from the four
YouTube travel influencer channels, sustainable travel was not once directly stated.
One of the YouTube travel influencers, the Vagabrothers, posted a specific vlog to

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address sustainable travel, addressing many sustainability tips or considerations.
Additionally, four other ‘sustainable travel’ labeled videos were included in the
narrative analysis as a comparison, found from a specific search for “sustainable
travel videos”. All the travel vlogs were coded accordingly to the three pillars of
sustainability. Codes were identified and assigned to indirect statements of
economic, environmental and social sustainability. As previously mentioned, two
types of travel videos were selected per YouTube channel; city vs. adventure. The
travel vlogs which were selected from the classified four top travel vloggers are
hereby known as ‘popular travel vlog’ and will be compared or contrasted with the
‘sustainable travel vlogs’; which are the four travel vlogs which were specifically
searched using the parameters of ‘sustainable travel’.

Economic Sustainability within the vlogs

Economic sustainability is defined in this research as promoting and adding capital

into a destination or area. More obvious economic sustainability narratives include
“try to support the local business” (Madeline Olivia, 2019), “vote with your dollar”
(Vagabrothers, 2018), “try to support the local businesses” (Madeline Olivia, 2019),
and “go eat at local restaurants” (Madeline Olivia, 2019), even sharing “every dollar
that we spend goes right back in the local community” (What Doesn’t Suck, 2019).
These clear-cut examples are from the specifically labeled ‘sustainable travel’ vlogs.
Examples of general economic sustainability codes are “stay somewhere longer”
(What Doesn’t Suck, 2019) – referring to spending more money in a concentrated
area, “get away from the places that suffer from over-tourism” (What Doesn’t Suck,
2019) – promoting spreading capital into lesser known areas. These general
economic sustainability codes were found in both ‘popular travel videos’ and
‘sustainable travel videos’. Two sub-codes were also created for economic
sustainability; accommodation and local shops/restaurants. Statements referring to
hotels, hostels, Airbnb’s and guesthouses were coded within accommodations.
Infrequently did the ‘popular travel vlogs’ mention accommodation options, only in
one instance did a YouTube influencer mention that “there’s some great hostels and
some amazing hotels” (Lost Leblanc, 2018). Whereas in the ‘sustainable travel
vlogs’ multiple videos discussed “rent a house” (Vagabrothers, 2018), “choose
accommodations wisely” (Vagabrothers, 2018), “eco-lodges are a great way to be

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close to nature” (Vagabrothers, 2018), “find an Airbnb instead of hotels. Find an
eco-hostel” (Vagabrothers, 2018). Local eateries, street vendors, markets and stores
were coded within local shops/restaurants. Codes which promoted local food halls,
street food stands or vendors, mentions of restaurants or famous dishes to try like
“the best apple pie in Amsterdam” (Lost Leblanc, 2019) or a “cocktail spot off the
beaten path” (Lost Leblanc, 2019) were deemed local shops/restaurants.

Environmental sustainability within the vlogs

Environmental sustainability generally addressed nature appreciation,

environmental materials and transportation codes. Narratives from the ‘popular
travel vlogs’ referring to environmental sustainability were all allocated to their
specific sub-code. Whereas narratives from the ‘sustainable travel vlogs’ expose a
few different themes such as statements like “when you go hiking pick up the trash”
(What Doesn’t Suck, 2019), “pack like a minimalist” (The Girl Gone Green, 2019),
“bring your own eco-friendly toiletries” (What Doesn’t Suck, 2019) and “eating less
meat” (Vagabrothers, 2019). These sentiments are not directly related to nature
appreciation, environmental materials and transportation but still relate to
environmental sustainability. Travel vlogs expressed nature appreciation highly.
Messages include “prettiest tree flowers” (Fun For Louis, 2016), “they respected the
nature” (Fun For Louis, 2016), “this amazing river flowing through the middle of
town” (Fun For Louis, 2016), “the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen” (Lost
Leblanc, 2018). The ‘sustainable travel vlogs’ are more specific and state “as much
as you want a photo riding an elephant swimming consider volunteering at an
elephant sanctuary” (Vagabrothers, 2019) and “picking up rubbish and plastic when
you’re travelling” (Madeline Olivia, 2019). The environmental materials code had
the least amount of codes in the context of environmental sustainability. The only
narrative regarding environmental materials in the ‘popular travel vlogs’ was “these
boats are actually made partially out of recycled plastic bottles and in this motor,
you see behind me is a solar-powered motor” (Kara & Nate, 2019). Environmental
materials were discussed much more often in the ‘sustainable travel vlogs’. These
videos discussed purchasing more sustainable and durable clothing, recyclable
coffee cups, and bringing reusable containers, bags and toiletries (What Doesn’t
Suck, 2019),. They also discuss avoiding aerosol can sprays, opting for a menstrual

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cup for females and to even avoid purchasing animal products as souvenirs or
claimed medical benefits (Vagabrothers, 2019). Finally, within the environmental
sub-codes is transportation. Transportation was discussed the most out of all the
environmental codes and third highest to be mentioned across all codes.
Transportation codes were described as relating to more eco-friendly travel
methods. Narratives within the vlogs detail “go get ourselves a bike” (Lost Leblanc,
2019), “took a train” (Lost Leblanc, 2019), and “paddle the kayaks” (Kara & Nate,
2020). The way the ‘sustainable travel vlogs’ discuss sustainable travel are more
direct. These codes include “take public transport” (Madeline Olivia, 2019),
“purchasing a carbon emission offset” (Vagabrothers, 2019), “reduce how often you
fly” (The Girl Gone Green, 2019), even “do it by bike, train, horse, sailing or
walking” (Vagabrothers, 2019). Environmental sustainability is top of mind when
referring to sustainability contrary to social sustainability which is much more
difficult to pinpoint and define.

Social Sustainability within the vlogs

Social sustainability was the most complicated code studied. Social sustainability in
terms of this research is defined by four sub-codes: independent traveling/self-
discovery, interacting with locals/community, cultural aspects and historical aspects.
General narratives of social sustainability were discussed and overlapped with
economic and environmental sustainability codes such as staying at a location
longer, slow travel or travel locally. Narratives like these are coded in all three main
codes as it can affect and be categorized in all three. Independent traveling/self-
discovery has the fewest codes but refers to themes about self-exploring a
neighborhood, square or district enjoying the atmosphere a destination has to offer
and stumbling across events occurring in the destination. Social sustainability is also
discussed in terms of interaction with the locals/communities. Travel vlogs
discussed learning the local languages or talking with locals and seek out their
recommendations. Some YouTube influencers encourage interacting with the locals,
sharing a drink and making new friends. For the ‘sustainable travel vlog’ they dive a
little more in depth by stating “we got to know the family and they served us locally
made butter and honey” (What Doesn’t Suck, 2019), they also state “try to make
meaningful connections with the local community”. Cultural aspects were another

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sub-code or theme found among the discussions of the travel vlogs. Cultural aspects
were illustrated as “it’s about taking traditional Danish and Nordic recipes and
reinterpreting them in a modern way” (Vagabrothers, 2017) addressing social
sustainability by new modern takes of traditional food. Another code refers to the
culture of jumping into the freezing water, “this is not a true Danish experience
unless we took the polar plunge” (Kara & Nate, 2019). Some travel vlogs discuss
the red-light district in Amsterdam and the marijuana culture which exists there
(Lost Leblanc, 2019). Themes arising around cultural museums, local cultural foods
and drink from the region, festivals, nightlife, local languages may stem from an
array of history and even major sports events. One ‘sustainable travel vlog’
specifically addresses the preservation of cultural heritage, but particularly in
indigenous communities (Vagabrothers, 2019). Although bike related narratives fall
under the transportation sub-code of environmental sustainability, some of the
YouTube influencers shed light on the bike culture which exists, resulting in dual
codes. Cultural codes were noted as the highest social sustainability code. Culture
has a diverse definition resulting in a wide variety of sub-codes. Lastly historical
sub-codes are interpreted as specific references to the history of the destination.
YouTube travel vloggers discuss “Tivoli Gardens one of the oldest amusement
parks in Europe” (Vagabrothers, 2017), “Carlsberg brewery… one of the world’s
most famous pilsner” (Vagabrothers, 2017), “Anne Frank’s house… it’s not exactly
something that makes you feel good but it’s important to recognize what happened
in the past” (Lost Leblanc, 2019), and finally the story of the Incas and the lost city
(Fun For Louis, 2016). Certain adventure vlogs spend a significantly greater amount
of time explaining the history and its profound creations.

Did people perceive these sustainable travel messages?

Economic Sustainability within the Interviews

Economic sustainability in terms of perception is similar. Economics or capital are

more clearly understood than broader and unclear terms than social sustainability.
The interviews show a high level of perception to economic sustainability cues from
travel vlogs. From encouraging tourists to visit destinations during less busy months
to spread the wealth, noticing the local restaurants, pubs, breweries and even local

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amusement parks. The most prominent theme to be perceived by the interviewees
were messages about avoiding “touristy” destinations and “touristy” areas. Viewers
perceived the narratives about going off the beaten path and going more out of the
way to find less popular attractions. Other comments in the interviews relating to
economic sustainability is whether travel vloggers specify whether the money spent
goes to larger corporations that own the smaller businesses. Several interviews note
that many of the travel vloggers do not address currency and especially pricing of
the destinations they visit. The accommodations sub-code seemed to be low on
perceptions regarding the vlogs. Only two interviewees referred to poor
accommodation choices made by the travel vlogger. Local restaurants/shop were
more perceived than the accommodations sub-code. Five different interviewees
noted the promotions of local shops and restaurants. Most comments relate to
restaurants that were known for something specific or unique food options.
Although economic is more easily defined among interviewees, environmental
themes are also prominent.

Environmental Sustainability within the Interviews

General environmental sustainability codes were addressed by seven interviewees.

Interviewees report the lack of environmental aspects in the travel vlogs. A major
theme appears to be visiting less popular locations and choosing to travel at low
times. Interviewees expressed the missing knowledge of how busy those
destinations that are being visited are. Two interviewees notice how much a vlogger
flies within a country and how unsustainable this decision is. Some interviewees
clearly question modes of transportation and the lack of information sharing about
distances and methods of transport. Another specific statement made by the vlogger
which was quite highly perceived was regarding the amount of trash left on a beach,
which the vlogger continues to share that he hopes the locals have handled it. The
comment regarding the locals being responsible for beach clean-up, was highly
perceived, interviewees expressed dis-taste towards this. The environmental
materials sub-code is the least perceived of all the main codes and sub-codes. One
interviewee noted the recycled materials of the boats used within the video. The low
perception rate of one interviewee selecting this video to view, may attribute to the
low levels of perception of environmentally friendly materials. Few ‘popular travel

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vlogs’ discuss eco-friendly materials; a greater depth and variety are discussed
within the ‘sustainable travel vlog’ sample of videos. Transportation is most clear
when defining this sub-code. Interviewees were quick and more understanding of
the theme. The most common message received was using bicycles and walking. As
two videos demonstrate a biking culture, it may be the reason why bikes are coded
in the narratives the most. Additional codes for transportation is taking public
transport and using boats. Some interviewees noticed the amount some vloggers
flew by plane or promoted motorcycles which were on the damaging environmental
sustainability side.

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Social Sustainability within the Interviews

As previously mentioned, social sustainability is commonly difficult to comprehend

or frame. Interviewees struggled to pinpoint or recall social sustainable messages
from the travel vlogs. Social sustainability narratives from the perception side
include how beautiful a city was, being respectful to the destination and sites, and
the perception of significant infrastructure and accessibility. No interviewees
noticed or discussed the sub-code of independent traveling/self-discovery. Although
there was significantly more conversation about interacting with
locals/communities. From remarking on the interactions of the travel vloggers
during a football match, and promoting social connections with the locals and
encouragement to reach out to the locals this sub-code was often perceived. Some
interviewees note the video footage of the travel vloggers playing basketball with
the locals or mentioning meeting up with other YouTube vloggers, many
interviewees also noticed the encouragement to go out of your way and have a drink
with the local people. Three of the interviewees criticized the claims YouTube
travel vloggers stated ‘travel as a local’, the viewer did not feel they experienced the
destination like a local and rather that it felt contradictory and touristic. Criticism
also arose on the lack of information regarding how easy it is to interact or
communicate with the local community. Viewers perceived cultural aspects of the
social sustainability main code the most. Cultural messages that were perceived
refer to the local cultural drink and food, the cultural customs such as coca leaves
and shamans in Peru and the red-light district’s prostitution and marijuana culture.
Authentic food culture was the most notable narrative within the interviews. There
were few codes regarding the culture of a neighborhood of Christiania in
Copenhagen. The football match within the Peruvian travel vlog was highly
perceived among interviewees. Finally, for the historical sub-code interviewees did
perceive historical aspects. Messages about history refer to the Incas within the Peru
travel vlog, this specific vlog provided a great deal of historical context to the ruins.
As one interviewee stated “good at giving the Coles notes of the history and
culture”. Another historical aspect of theme that arose in the conversations was
Anne Frank’s home and the history of the Second World War, regarding the

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Amsterdam vlog. Despite elements of history presented by most travel vloggers, it
was more often not perceived or significant enough to recall among interviewees.

A series of memos were also noted through the coding process of this research. A
theme of unsustainability arose from these memos. Travel vloggers share they have
taken over an entire restaurant, some explain they only walked to a location because
it was the only option, they promote waterpark attractions, taking intranational
flights, taking a private boat to secluded locations, renting motorbikes and even a
comment about locals dealing with beach trash. Additionally, narratives about
changing hotels three times at one destination and promoting chain hotels such as
the Marriott feed to the case that unsustainable travel remains at the forefront and
unchanged. The ‘sustainable travel vlogs’ on the other hand at least address their
hypocrisy of being a travel vlogger. Yet these ‘sustainable travel vlogs’ do promote
options and methods to raise awareness, practice sustainable travel behaviors and
provide education on elements like carbon emission offsets. Several interviews
remarked and perceived the anti-sustainability messages or occurrences, stating high
consumption revolving around the hotels, and constant food suggestions and
reviews. An interviewee raised the question around sustainability of amusement
parks and waterparks. It was also perceived that some travel vloggers have little
awareness of sustainability, as one particular vlogger asks if there are any animals in
the area while kayaking in a jungle area. This demonstrates the lack of knowledge
of environmental sustainability. In one discussion about sustainable travel the
interviewee expressed “they could have used their platform to encourage tourism in
that area but also do it in a sustainable way. They represent what the majority of
travelers’ kind of do in a different area, could encourage a little bit better
behaviors”. This statement clearly pinpoints the need for this research and for future
sustainable travel vlogs. Another interviewee summarized their viewing experience
by stating that “they show the highlights and the Instagram version”. Travel vlogs
but social media as a whole is about likability and relatability and this quote
highlights how the social media community and network are perceived to only
provide positive and exciting content.

Corresponds with table below:

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Economic sustainability codes were recorded in the lowest portions, whereas
environmental sustainability codes were slightly more common and social
sustainability proved to be the most stated within the ‘popular travel vlogs.
Regarding interviews environmental sustainability codes were higher, and economic
codes were deemed low. Social sustainability codes were consistent with the vlogs
at the highest-level of codes.

It seems some codes were perceived or people really searched for things that would
not be considered a code – like “it seems like he used local bus transportation but he
doesn’t explicitly state anything” people make visual or mental assumptions. These
assumptions were noted but not included in the coding process. Statements from
interviewees include “like touristy guides must be local”. Reiterating how
interviewees may search or assume certain information based on the images from
the vlogs. Interviewees seem to recall general items rather than specifics.

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8 Discussion
This study offers an initial base to look into the rapidly growing digital world of
marketing and communication channels. Social media has international coverage
(O’Neill, Williams, Kurz et al., 2015). Social media and social networks are not new
concepts (Zeljko, Jakovic & Strugar, 2018). Along with social media, are the actors
who are both the content providers and users. The term ‘social media influencer’ has
become widespread globally (Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Social media
encompasses many online platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and
YouTube. Yet YouTube is one of the major online platforms which active social
media users use to learn about and research their next travel destination. As tourism
grows, so do the impacts. Sustainable travel is on the rise This research investigated
how YouTube travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel. It also explored whether these
sustainable travel messages are perceived? The findings show that YouTube travel
vlogs uncommonly and indirectly discuss sustainable travel. Elements of sustainable
travel were plucked from indirect statements which were categorized into the above
coding structure of economic, environmental and social sustainability. YouTube
travel vloggers do not discuss sustainable travel directly, but also, they do not
discuss sustainable travel options with the intent of sharing sustainability messages.
On the perception side of this research generally millennials do perceive these
elements of sustainable travel. Although unless interviewees were specifically asked
about whether the video, they viewed addressed sustainability pillars, it was seldom
they report of the sustainable messaging.

Firstly, the exploratory research identifies the lack of sustainable travel messaging
among popular or ‘top’ YouTube travel influencers. Although travel influencers
which were not selected for this research, such as Sailing La Vagabonde discuss
sustainability and sustainable travel in significantly more direct ways, as they reside
on a sailboat and are self-sufficient. Additionally, the exploratory process of this
research exposes the many different types of travel vlogs which exist. As previously
stated, videos which did not include narration or live conversation or supplementary
texts to explain a destination were not included. Some of the top travel influencers
have unique styles such as video compilations of tricks and stunts performed by
parkouring around major cities. This channel focuses on incredible cinematography,

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it incorporates dangerous and impressive stunts performed near or on major historic
or culturally important sites (with government approval) and in this fashion shows
off the destination. Another top YouTube travel influencer focuses on paranormal
tourism and haunting tourism. This social media influencer visits or stays at known
paranormal or haunted locations to promote the area. Most YouTube travel
influencers which meet the 1 million or more subscribers criteria focus on aerial and
drone footage played with music in the background. These videos are generally
created as teasers or trailers of a destination rather than being informative.

The average YouTube travel influencer appears to not discuss sustainable travel
messages or options within their regularly scheduled vlog posts. One popular
YouTube travel channel does create a separate vlog addressing sustainable travel
tips as a whole. As analyzed and coded as the ‘sustainable travel vlogs’ these vlogs
were summaries and tips to consider a more sustainable mindset while traveling.
This research originally sought out travel vlogs which discuss sustainable travel
options and activities at specific destinations. During the dozens of hours of
preliminary search of YouTube travel channels, some social media influencers
mention common animal attractions like riding elephants. Yet instead of promoting
these harmful activities as a tourist, they provide options to volunteer at an elephant
sanctuary instead for the close encounter or animal interaction. Another example of
ideal sustainable travel messages while social media influencers travel, could refer
to recommending sustainable transport like walking or electric scooters in major
cities. It was clear that few YouTube travel influencers noted sustainable travel
options. It is speculated that this is the case because travel influencers in social
media are meant to show the positive, fun, rich and lavish lifestyle. Social media is
often about the luxuries and the glamour of travel. This is often what appeals to
people to create a following. It is speculated that this is what leads to consumption
which is contradictory (Gössling, 2017). As millennials and other travelers or
vacationers alike, often seek escapes from their everyday work life, viewing lavish
travel content provides this escape. Thankfully there is a growing community of
responsible travelers. YouTube influencers must appeal to the masses and gain
viewership, it might be the case that audiences are not keen to learn or care about
sustainable travel content as much as the positive, ‘unsustainable’, getaway type of

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content. This research raises questions about whether these market mavens, or social
media influencers distance themselves from certain types of travel. Conceivably
‘popular’ travel vloggers avoid or do not discuss sustainable travel as it is often
portrayed in a negative green-washing perspective. Intriguingly, perhaps sustainable
travel and sustainability is too depressing or considered a killjoy for the getaway,
escapism type of aspirational research YouTube travel vlogs tend to be.
Nonetheless, sustainable travel is rarely discussed in YouTube travel vlogs and
could benefit in understanding whether viewers do consider green-washing and
sustainability messages as negative or less attractive.

Social - This research sought to identify YouTube travel influencers to promote

social sustainability, and immersion into the culture, history and local communities,
yet little were noted. The results of this study expose the lack of sustainable travel
messages, but the greatest pillar supported by indirect statements was overall the
cultural sub-code of social sustainability. The travel vlogs allude to the local culture
by discussing local languages, trying local drinks or street food vendors. Depending
on the travel vlog, there is significantly more narratives about the culture and history
of an attraction like Macchu Picchu. Videos about specific attractions tend to
express more culture messaging. City travel vlogs detail culture much less, for
example in the travel vlogs about Copenhagen, culture was referred to local craft
beers and breweries, they also discuss popular food culture, like hot dogs and
smorrebröd. Culture in Amsterdam relates to the governments’ tolerance to
marijuana, or marijuana culture and the red-light district, regarding the sex trade,
shows and prostitution. Throughout the process of coding it became more apparent
that culture is rooted in history. This made coding more complicated as historic
codes and culture codes can often coincide. As distinguished in the results,
‘sustainable travel’ vlogs discussed social sustainability more directly. They discuss
actively engaging with the local communities and people, they encourage voting
with your dollar and staying in local places and supporting local tours and
attractions. Although sustainability is typically pigeon-holed into environmental
sustainability, it is apparent that videos which do address sustainability as a whole
direct discuss social and economic sustainability as well. Perhaps social
sustainability is most difficult to define due to the overlap with the environmental

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and economic pillars, despite this idea the discussion is present in the ‘sustainable
travel’ vlog narratives. These results regarding social sustainability were surprising
in some way, due to the difficulty to define social sustainability. These results could
be considered weak due to the lack of definition of social sustainability and overlap
of other sustainability pillars. Although it is apparent that culture and history are
discussed among travel vlogs, whether these vloggers are aware or direct in
addressing the fact. Potential growth or gaps that could be filled by social media
influencers or strategic communication using influencer marketing, could be
explaining the importance of social sustainability and the benefits to the community
as well as to the traveler. Awareness and direct conversations could be increased
and blended in to the current content relatively easily and seamlessly, since social
sustainability awareness is low. Referring to the results of the interviews despite the
high levels of codes noted in the research, the lack of depth of understanding and
defining social sustainability is solidified. Social sustainability codes that were
perceived the most were food culture and cultural aspects of the country. Historical
codes specifically were perceived relatively low. Although number of codes were
high, interviewees seem to only perceive and recall general themes rather than
discussing specifics. This could be due to the lack of reasoning, explaining or direct
messaging of the travel vlogger. If the who, what or why were addressed briefly by
the vlogger, social sustainability may be more prominent. Environmental
sustainability is often top of mind when considering the term sustainability and
sustainable travel. Potentially sustainable travel is contradictory in itself, as travel,
as these influencers demonstrate and practice are far from sustainable.

Environmental - The results also show how the travel vloggers discuss
environmental sustainability, generally it is quite scarce. Although these travelers
could be considered hypocritical travelling full-time across the globe creating
massive carbon footprints, very vlogs few address or mention the environmental
impacts or how to be more sustainable while at a destination. Topics which were
recounted in the city travel vlogs were using bicycles, yet it could be argued that the
bicycle culture and infrastructure in place is the greater influencer than for
environmental reasons. Both Amsterdam and Copenhagen have major bicycle
infrastructure in place making it easier and cheaper to travel from point A to point

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B, with the ease and freedom of the traveler’s choice. Therefore, when YouTube
travel influencers promote and suggest traveling by bike, it is often not rooted in the
environmental reasons. Nevertheless, it is encouraged and discussed, some
YouTube influencers do point out the perk of bicycles being better for the
environment. On the perception side by interviewees, transportation was clearly top
of mind when asked about environmental sustainability. Two interviewees
perceived that the encouragement to utilize bicycles may not be for environmental
reasons but for convenience and due to the easy access, and the city’s infrastructure,
which was more in-depth perception than anticipated. Additionally, environmental
sustainability was indirectly reported in the adventure travel vlogs as nature
appreciation. Nature appreciation narratives considered natural beauty and
attractions like beaches, underground caves, coral reefs when diving and rivers
flowing down mountainsides. These travel influencers would express the impressive
and beautiful landscapes while on tours or self-exploring a natural landscape. In the
‘sustainable travel’ vlogs, specific comments which directly promote “doing your
part” and cleaning up pieces of trash found along hikes or beaches. Albeit, one
‘popular’ travel vlog influencer mentioned the large amounts of trash along the
beaches (of the Philippines) and states his hopes that the locals dealt with this issue.
The lack of shared responsibility sentiment expressed by the influencer is
discouraging and contradictory to sustainable travel or responsible travel behavior.
A somewhat surprising appalled and insulted response by the majority of the
interviewees was encouraging. The perception of this comment was extremely high
and interviewees place importance on this type of comment being negative. Finally,
the environmentally friendly materials code did not appear often. This research
exposes that there is a lack of companies which promote sustainability as an
attraction factor, for example one ‘popular’ travel vlog explored Copenhagen by
solar powered boats which were also made of recycled plastic. The YouTube
influencers did well to explain and share this information, yet there were no other
mentions in other videos or it appeared extremely rare during the hours of research
prior to selecting the four ‘popular’ YouTube travel channels. It is either the lack of
discussion or the lack of presence and promotion. This research perhaps exposes
that the masses are not yet interested or place high importance on sustainable
content. Tourism related companies which promote sustainable practices would

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benefit from attracting top or popular influencers to experience and share their
products or services. According to a survey provided by Booking.com, 87% of
global travelers state they would like to travel more sustainably (Newsdesk, 2018).
The growing interest in sustainable travel should be fostered by social media. Social
media platforms can also provide greater e-WOM and the halo effect might
positively cultivate greater demand and therefore supply of sustainable travel
options like electric transportation or bicycles and shared responsibility to care for
the environment as a common resource.

Economic – Economic codes were relatively basic referring people to local

restaurants and shops. It was less common for YouTube travel influencers to discuss
their accommodations. Some travel vloggers left the topic of accommodations out of
their videos completely. The ‘popular’ travel vloggers were noted on occasion
staying at international chain hotels depicted in other videos which were not used in
this research. The reasons for their stay varied, yet more obviously they were due to
sponsorship/collaborations. This refers to the hotel or accommodation facility
providing a room for free with the agreement of the influencer creating positive
content promoting the business as a form of payment. It can also be assumed with
full-time travelers; these YouTube influencers may seize the benefits of loyalty
perks with international chains. Yet it is important to note that one of the ‘popular’
travel influencers (LostLeblanc) discloses in another video that it is often beneficial
for social media influencers to avoid accommodation sponsorships or
collaborations, as agreements can have many requirements and demands, creating
more work than it is worth to pay for a more affordable Airbnb or hotel. However,
this travel influencer changed hotels three times during his stay in Amsterdam, a
travel vlog used in this case selection. He clearly exhibits the lack of awareness
regarding environmental sustainability by staying and moving hotels frequently. In
comparison to the four ‘sustainable travel’ vlogs; there is heavy discussion
regarding options to support the local economy with your accommodation choice.
They offer options of eco-lodges, renting homes, doing a house swap, locally owned
hotels and hostels or use Airbnb. They also provide the explanations and perks to
staying with local families such as homemade foods and products as well as better
immersion of the community and culture. The ‘sustainable travel’ vlogs are much

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more direct, yet fail to provide names of the business or accommodation they use.
These suggestions to begin searches would be a beneficial starting point for
researching travelers, and is a gap that should be shifted to fill in future travel vlogs.
It is arguable that this case selection did not choose a wide enough variety of travel
vlogs, as there are some travel channels which are much more informative and
instructional on where to stay and the pricing, but as previously stated, the vlogs
selected were based on a minimum 1 million subscribers. Interviewees barely noted
any accommodation discussion, and when it was mentioned in the interviews, it was
the lack of information provided about where the influencer stayed and what it is
like. The results expose a significant amount of discussion on local restaurants and
shops. What is interesting to note is the little difference in how ‘popular’ travel
vlogs and ‘sustainable travel’ vlogs discuss local restaurants and shops. Both types
of travel vlogs present restaurant names and suggest seeking local or independent
shops to contribute to the local economy. The ‘sustainable travel’ vlogs explain
what the benefits are to the destination and why it is important to support the local
economy while traveling. Interviewees definitely observed the discussion of local
restaurants more than the local shops. Interviewees perceived the restaurants and in
some instances the pricing, but this was rarer as only one travel vlog shared pricing.
It was mentioned by other interviewees that pricing was a missing element in the
travel vlogs. Interviewees remarked that currency was also missing, and therefore
had little knowledge or understanding of how much things costed. There is a
possibility that the more lavish travel videos do not disclose the cost of the
experience, due to sponsorship and collaboration. The intention of the collaboration
may be to inspire and promote the experience, rather than focus on pricing.
Additionally, as already noted travel vlogs may aim to be aspirational and lavish,
therefore the illusion of an amazing trip and experience should not include the
details of cost. The economic side of sustainability is more complicated as the
economy is expected to continuously grow, whereas sustainability is aimed to
moderate fast growth. Suggestions for YouTube travel influencers might be
emphasizing the experience and value which is created by choosing local
businesses, local restaurants and accommodations when it is at a higher price point.
From a business standpoint, price matching and providing similar value and
experience makes the decision to choose sustainable much easier for consumers and

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travelers. In general, there are indirect messages of sustainable travel were within
YouTube travel vlogs, and even greater amounts of direct messaging in ‘sustainable
travel’ vlogs which are clearer and more precise on the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of
sustainable travel tips. The perception of sustainable messages was greater than
expectations, considering the indirectness of the messages. A limitation or weakness
from this result could be that the when interviewees are asked about sustainability,
they searched and sought out messages that could be considered sustainable, but
otherwise while researching a destination normally the sustainability mindset may
not occur. For generalizability of the results, this study cannot and does not claim to
contribute any knowledge in terms of the statistical sense. This research cannot
directly be transferred to every case of travel vlog nor perception of the travel vlog.
Rather the research above should be regarded as a starting point for future research.
It illustrates a greater issue that sustainable travel messages are hardly being
discussed in YouTube travel vlogs, which is highlighted in the literature review.

Filling the literature gap

Sustainable travel has become a major concern which has fueled research on how to
make people change to more sustainable travel (Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling, 2013).
Through the literature review process, it is clear there is limited research that has
been conducted on YouTube and specifically the link between YouTube vlogs and
sustainable travel. Aforementioned sustainable tourism is a relatively new academic
term and social media has been underutilized for the promotion of sustainability.
Increased research should be invested and this research contributes to the literature
gap by answering how do YouTube travel vlogs discuss sustainable travel. As
Gössling (2017) expresses, IT and specifically in this case social media, creates
considerable potential to support sustainable tourism. The research also seeks to
delve deeper into understanding if people perceive these latent messages. A
significant amount of literature also identifies characteristics of successful social
media influencers. Characteristics like authenticity and credibility are key. This is
the reasoning behind selecting four channels with a significant following to ensure
similar viewership and perceived authenticity and credibility.

The previous literature emphasizes heavily the importance of authenticity and

therefore self-determination theory. Self-determination theory is the idea that

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authenticity revolves around an individual’s internal motivations (Audrezet, de
Kerviler & Guidry Moulard, 2018). This is perhaps the reason why sustainability
messages were indirect and lacked reasoning. The ‘popular’ travel vloggers are
passionate about sharing their stories, but maybe less intrinsically motivated to share
sustainability information. This theory might also explain the reason ‘popular’ travel
vloggers do not share sustainability messages as it is not their own passions and
desires therefore will be perceived as less authentic. Moreover, one study reaffirms
that attractiveness does not have a major link to purchase intentions. In order for
social media influencers to be effective, sponsored content should align with the
celebrity posts and align with his or her ideals and values, to be perceived as more
authentic (Pöyry, et al., 2019). It was interesting to note how the interviewees often
selected based not only on preference but based on similar characteristics to
themselves. During the interviews some of the interviewees expressed the choice of
the travel vlog due to whether they were similar to themselves, including
relationship status. Those who identified as single tended to avoid travel vlogs
which depicted couples in the image.

Social media influencers are an important strategic method of communication,

which can influence public opinion and purchase intentions. Yet the internet and
social media has been studied a great deal more regarding the Web 2.0 and more
specifically the Tourism 2.0 environment (Ivanov, Dillingham, Parker et al., 2018).
Functions like researching, planning, booking reservations and providing feedback
have been the focus (Gössling, 2015). Some literature explores social media
perceptions in tourism but lack the any elements of sustainable travel (Shen,
Sotiriadis & Zhou, 2020). Articles also discuss how destinations are increasingly
reliant on social media to manage consumer opinions (Peralta, 2019). Social media
can have a significant impact on destination image and therefore influence their
incoming tourism flows. Some research seeks to uncover how to make people
change to exhibit more sustainable travel behaviors (Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling,
2013). Yet the reminder that IT education and environmental learning, or awareness
does not always translate to behavior change is important (Juvan & Dolnica, 2014a,
2014b; as cited in Gössling, 2017). Although this research does not seek to
understand travel behaviors it is still vital to understand how sustainable travel is

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discussed online but specifically on social media platforms. The findings of this
research begin to map how sustainable travel is currently being discussed online but
also how it might improve. Sustainable travel messages are latent and indirect.
Admittedly, ‘popular’ travel vlog channels hardly address the different actions to
promote sustainability, it can be found in most travel vlogs.
Media in general has changed due to social media influencers as it brings forth user-
generated content. As indicated earlier media content can be created by anyone and
everyone. Media is no longer limited to major industrial-economic actors
(Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). Likewise, there is a new sense of intimacy and
immediacy of a relationship social media influencer present (Kietzmann, Hermkens,
McCarthy & Silvestre, 2011). This sense of intimacy and relationship help persuade
and influence people. Perhaps these para-social relationships can foster growth in
the sustainability community and increase the demand for sustainable travel. These
online communities continue to grow. This growing impact of user-generated
content is emphasized by the 29% of online consumers in the US watch video
content at least once a month (Elliot, 2016). The research conducted in this study
helps to better understand what type of content exists around sustainable travel and
that people are more perceptive to these messages. The results demonstrate how
social learning could be a contributing factor to increasing sustainable travel. From
an environmental education perspective, sustainability is more about how we teach
and learn (Brunstein, Jamie, Curi et al., 2015). This article emphasizes the more
places and spaces we inject sustainability education, the more ways of thinking will
emerge (Brunstein, Jamie, Curi et al., 2015). It might also be important to note that
travel behavior is jointly determined by multiple factors such as; social influence,
individual factors and transport environment Gehlert, Dziekan & Gärling, 2013).
Gärling (2013) stresses the multitude of factors that influence people, ergo this
research does not claim that social media influencers to outright influence
sustainable travel but that it can be a factor to persuade and educate. Sustainability
is process-oriented, the more we learn the more we are required to reflect
(Koutsouris, 2009). Therefore, this research helps to fill this gap of understanding
how messages are conveyed as well as reflecting on how viewers perceive them.
Learning is the critical key to creating a more sustainable future (Koutsouris, 2009).

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The travel industry was one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Yet due
to the current COVID-19 pandemic tourism must adapt. Within a matter of months,
over tourism has shifted to non-tourism (Gössling, Scott & Hall, 2020). Despite the
unrecoverable economic losses caused by this pandemic it is important to note the
opportunity this provides the tourism industry. The decreased amount of traveling
and the amount of unemployment, this could be the opportunity for slow travel and
local travel to rise. The ‘stay at home’ measures and social distancing appears to be
increasing the demand for local travel, and nature-based activities and attractions.
Still further, since individuals and families have less money to spend on vacations,
might in turn make them more selective. This circumstance could consequently
cause individuals to choose local travel in order to create extended trips more
affordably and reinvesting into the local economy. As a whole this pandemic could
be the start of a triple benefit for sustainable travel.

Theories in action
Salient messages found in this research revolve mainly around culture, or the top of
mind topics like local businesses and environmentally friendly transportation.
Culture is one of the top reasons people often travel. To experience a different place
than our homes and to potentially gain new perspectives. Similarly, local shops and
restaurants are at the core of culture and seeking Transportation is also top of mind
when thinking of sustainable travel, as it generally the most publicized, social media
and traditional media continually share messages about carbon emissions of flying
and other modes of transportation. Framing theory clearly outlines this concept,
increased salient messages also increase the probability that information will be
perceived by a viewer (Entman, 1993). Seemingly obscure and unimportant pieces
of narratives were perceived as highly salient in the interview process. This is likely
due to the pattern or self-identified sustainable individuals. Those individuals who
considered themselves sustainable, were more likely to notice small pieces of
information that seemed unimportant. As sustainability is core to their belief system
and values, this could explain their higher levels of perception. For example, one of
the interviewees chose a video with the intention to avoid words like “guide” or “top
lists” as the interviewee reported they tend to share tourist heavy destinations. This
interviewee explained their search process seeks for more in-depth and local

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experiences rather than social media influencer suggested “top” lists. Although this
research used framing theory to identify salient messages, the presence of frames
detected by researchers does not guarantee their influence in audience
thinking/perception (Entman, 1993). This strongly ties with the theory of planned
behavior as well. Since this theory reflects social norms of a person determines their
attitudes and actions (Lopez-Moszquera, Garcia, Barrena, 2013). As above-
mentioned, one viewers/interviewees may be more receptive to sustainable travel
messages, if they identify as sustainable travelers. As these viewers are more aware
of sustainability, perception rates might be higher. However, there is no criteria for
what defines a sustainable individual which underlines this as a limitation. This also
reveals the need to study moral obligation as a component. In understanding an
individual’s moral obligation could improve our understanding of environmentally
relevant intentions and behaviors. This may involve greater understanding of
willingness to pay in conservation research, as the previous literature uses
willingness to pay to gauge and understand moral obligation. At the same time,
goal-framing theory may have played a part in this research. It postulates that people
frame their goals to help process information (Lindenberg & Steg, 2013). Except
humans have multiple goals, and it is important to consider those goals fight for
different priorities. Therefore, in terms of sustainable travel, although hypothetically
if vloggers or viewers maintain a sustainable travel as a goal, it may be lowered in
precedence for fiscal, convenience or comfort reasons. This does coincide with
norm-guided environmental behaviour which states that pro-environmental behavior
must be guided by the persons core values and norms.

Finally, most importantly this research considered social learning theory to create its
theoretical framework. As indicated earlier, learning refers to the people’s ability to
process and retain information (Chong & Druckman, 2007). Arguably the public
learns over time. It is believed that the public should be more susceptible to framing
in the early stages of exposure to an issue like sustainable travel (Chong &
Druckman, 2007). This idea that people are more open and receptive to new
information/messages. Although from the interviews it did not seem apparent. The
findings from the interview suggest those primed in thinking and considering
sustainability or sustainable travel, were more receptive or able to identify messages

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of sustainability. Priming within the study of mass communications is defined as
calling attention to something (Chong & Druckman, 2007). Priming might increase
the accessibility to some category or construct in our memories (Chong &
Druckman, 2007). As for the theoretical framework based on social learning theory,
this research cannot confirm the content creator level. Presumably personal morals,
past experiences and sponsorships would be educators and motivators to create
sustainable travel content. Within the ‘sustainable travel’ vlogs, it does appear
apparent that personal morals and experience are factors to share sustainable travel
content. This strengthens the call for more social media influencers who hold
sustainable travel close to their morals. As previously mentioned, making money is
on in fourth place for an influencer’s motivations (Audrezet, de Kerviler & Guidry
Moulard, 2018). Therefore, as encouraging and initiating sponsorships may be, the
most effective social media influencers to promote sustainable travel must
demonstrate their moral drive and maintain authenticity. This research does appear
to contribute to the learnings of the perception side. Interviewees do draw on past
experiences and personal motives when noticing sustainable travel content. The
research also supports the concept that consistent exposure to sustainable travel e-
WOM, could be an effective influencer. Even more, this study acknowledges that
framing is critiqued as insufficient for rigorous analysis and it is unable to
contribute to theoretical and empirical vagueness (O’Neill, Williams, Kurz et al.,
2015). Due to the relativity and subjectivity it is difficult to ensure consistency and
transferability

Implications
The findings of this research demonstrate messages of sustainable travel are more
perceived than expected. The perception of sustainability is increasing. This
highlights the opportunities which social media influencers and specifically
YouTube travel influencers have to share information and persuade travelers. The
results show how sustainable travel is currently discussed but branching off this
research there is guidance and direction to what sustainable travel message should
look and sound like. The research shows the need to elaborate briefly for the reasons
why sustainable travel options are positive and how easy or convenient it can be.
Although it may be important to keep sustainability messages light and brief rather

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than delving deeper into detail, as this changes the travel vlogs entertainment and
style value. In the exploratory interviews, one vlog proved to explain in greater
depth the sustainability reasons and causes, which caused disinterest. The research
suggests sustainable travel vlogs should be kept similar but stealthily or casually slip
in pieces of sustainable travel options. The messages would be even more salient if
they appeal to viewers economically or conveniently. Furthermore, the findings
support the need to co-produce research, due to the significant interdisciplinary
overlap of tourism and sustainability. Research to be conducted with journalists,
scientists and institutional actors (O’Neill, Williams, Kurz et al., 2015). As already
explained, this pandemic has provided a unique opportunity for social media
influencers to shift to travel locally. As restrictions begin to ease, social media
influencers find themselves grounded and unable to travel internationally.
Therefore, this research sheds light on companies and destinations utilizing their
local talent to promote intra-national traveling. Otherwise, these results expose the
need for sustainable travel companies to increase investment into social media
influencing, as it is a hot topic that should be cultivated to encourage the momentum
and educate millennial travelers of the options available globally.

Limitations
The limitations to this research include the lack of generalizability of qualitative
studies. Qualitative research is interpretive and seeks not to understand the cause
and effect but describe and understand deeper meanings of sustainable travel
messaging. Additionally, arguably, coding data may not produce significant or
theorized stories (Roulston, 2013). Another limitation acknowledge by the
researcher was the diverse selection of interviewees. The multi-national sample was
selected to attempt to represent the idea that YouTube travel vlogs can be accessed
and viewed by anyone anywhere in the world. The multi-perception sample hoped
to identify some cohesive patterns, but acknowledges a potential issue of different
interpretations of interview questions or definitions. For example, what is
considered sustainable in one nation, or culture may not be in another, sustainability
at its core could be criticized as inconsistent. Additionally, the wide nationality
representation provided diverse interests in styles of travel, as travelers often want
what is different than their home countries. The research also failed to analyze

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visual saliency and use of visual attention modelling schemes. Due to the time
constraints of this thesis, the research deemed the narratives and perception parts of
the study as greater gaps in knowledge. Time allowing, the study could have
benefitted from using a visual attention-based framework as well to understand and
test where and what viewers looked at. Further aiding in how to structure and
efficiently modify future strategic communications through social media. The
research also did not and cannot further the question of why travel vloggers discuss
sustainable travel so infrequently and indirectly. Further research would benefit
interviewing content providers, like the social media influencers to further the
research regarding sustainable travel.

9 Conclusion
Sustainable travel is infrequently and indirectly discussed in YouTube travel vlogs.
The research exposes the lack of direct sustainable travel content as well as brief or
minimal explanations and promotions to encourage viewers to choose sustainable
options while traveling the world. On rare occasions, a ‘popular’ YouTube travel
channel dedicates a specific sustainable travel vlog which outlines tips to generally
make or seek out sustainable options, but do not incorporate this messaging into
their regular content. The research sought to understand how YouTube travel vlogs
discuss sustainable travel as well as how people perceive sustainable travel content.
Results for the perception part expose there is greater awareness and perception of
sustainability than anticipated. Millennials are more understanding and perceptive of
the term sustainable travel and elements of sustainable travel without necessarily
knowing the three sustainability pillars it could be classified as. Previous literature
discusses social media influencers and user-generated content in the business
marketing perspective, but minimally explores it within the tourism industry and
very rarely in terms of sustainability. The literature also reveals the in-depth
research revolving around perceived authenticity of social media influencers and the
importance and elements of credibility. Authenticity and credibility are notably
strongest when social media influencers disseminate information which lie close to
their passions and values. The literature also illustrates how social media clearly has
effective communication reach. It has the capacity to extend to anywhere and
anyone in the world, in the creation process and viewing abilities. Social media also

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allows for a sense of online intimacy and engagement. Online relationships change
our circle of influence by increasing it exponentially. The literature has previous
devoted understand of purchase intention and persuasion. Clearly there is still plenty
room for growth and future studies regarding influence and persuasion, but
businesses have invested into product purchase intention, which differs from
experience-based products. This research exposes a hole for YouTube vlogs
regarding sustainable travel. When completing a specific search, a limited number
of travel vlogs appeared. Sustainable may have been previously considered a niche
market, but the growing awareness and demand, specifically from millennials
should be catered too and studied further. Recommendations for future work should
focus on persuasion and influence of sustainable travel, it would be beneficial to
further understand how to increase or encourage social media influencers to discuss
more topics of sustainable tourism. Vlogging provides many new research
opportunities (Griffith & Papacharissi, 2010). The perception side of viewers should
also be investigated further to potentially identify different markets and establish
how these messages can be most effective among millennial and other generations.
It would also be interesting to understand how these travel vlogs influence the older
generations who are approaching retirement and potentially traveling the world,
another market for quality, high spending travelers. Future research should also seek
to visually analyze of travel vlogs, this could benefit companies/destinations and
social media influencers to produce targeted and effective content. Imagery is could
be highly influential in storytelling and influence. As mentioned before, future
studies should explore if sustainability messages especially regarding travel, are
perceived negatively or less attractively than aspirational travel vlogs with minimal
sustainability content.

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Proceedings of the International DAAAM Symposium, 29(1), 0041

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11 Appendices

Appendix A: PowerPoint Presentation sent to Interviewees:

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Appendix B: Table below – Interview questions

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 Appendix C
The below is a word cloud which demonstrates the most used words within the 20
interviews. This simple gives a sense of what words and topics were brought forth
most often.

Appendix D
Appendix B notes the codes that were mentioned in which travel video. The name
of the travel vlogger channel is shown, Firstly the city travel vlog, then following
the adventure travel vlog. Additionally included, are the three exploratory travel
vlogs and then the four ‘sustainable travel’ vlogs. From left to right the travel vlogs
are as follows: FunForLouis – Amsterdam, FunForLouis – Peru, Kara & Nate –
Copenhagen, Kara & Nate – Philippines, LostLeblanc – Amsterdam, LostLeblanc –
Philippines, TheVagabrothers – Copenhagen, The Vagabrothers – Peru, Useless -
London, The Vagabrothers – London, Margot Lee – London, What doesn’t Suck –
Sustainable Travel vlog, Madeline Olivia

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Appendix E: Table showing number of total codes

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