Influencers and the choice of a travel destination: a customer journey and information processing perspective

Abstract Despite growing investment and strategic emphasis on travel social media influencers (TSMI), research lacks a holistic understanding of their impact on travel decisions across different stages of the customer journey. The objective of this study is therefore to develop and validate an integrated framework that explains the effectiveness of TSMIs combining customer journey and information processing conceptual lenses. In more detail, using a mixed-methods approach involving partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) performed on survey data from n = 530 Australian consumers exposed to simulated Instagram content, this study identifies critical psychological mechanisms through which TSMIs impact travel decisions at the pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase stages. It emerges that ad informativeness and persuasiveness significantly impact destination choice, while ad identification plays a more limited role. Comprehensively, these results integrate and advance the customer journey and information processing perspectives in TSMIs research, demonstrating how awareness, attitudes and involvement collectively shape the effectiveness of TSMIs. The results also translate into practical guidelines for optimising TSMI partnerships across different customer journey touchpoints; creating persuasive content strategies; and leveraging post-visit sharing behaviours to maximise return on investments.