INNOVATIVE DIRECTIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN TOURISM: EVIDENCE, ATTRIBUTION, AND STRATEGIC ADOPTION

This article critically evaluates eight emerging directions in social media marketing for tourism and examines whether their growing practical adoption is supported by peer-reviewed empirical evidence. Particular attention is paid to the attribution gap between platform-level exposure and engagement metrics and subsequent tourism outcomes, including destination consideration, bookings, tourist expenditure, and post-visit advocacy. The study employs a structured literature review and conceptual analysis. Peer-reviewed research in tourism and hospitality, including recent systematic reviews, constitutes the primary evidence base. Official statistics, platform-reported data, and industry statistics are used exclusively to provide contextual information and are assessed according to the transparency of their sources. Assessments of adoption levels and evidence strength are explicitly analytical judgments rather than quantitatively measured scores. The reviewed evidence suggests a persistent imbalance between the adoption of marketing innovations and the demonstrated effects on tourism outcomes. User-generated content and electronic word of mouth have the strongest support for their underlying mechanisms among the eight directions examined, whereas influencer marketing, short-form video, social search, generative artificial intelligence, and other rapidly adopted practices are supported by varying levels of empirical evidence. The principal structural challenge concerns attribution: social media platforms effectively measure exposure and engagement, while economically meaningful tourism outcomes often occur at later stages, outside the platform environment, and without reliable data links to the initial exposure. The article approaches marketing innovation as an empirical proposition requiring evaluation rather than merely as an emerging trend to be adopted. It develops an evidence-graded assessment of eight innovative directions, proposes a three-tier strategic adoption framework—adopt now, pilot with measurement, and watch—and identifies a practical visitor-side measurement approach designed to help reduce the attribution gap between social media activities and tourism outcomes.