The Effect of Snobbism on Tourism Demand: A Research on Instagram Users Living in Nişantaşı

Abstract

It is seen that consumers benefit more often from the internet media when buying products and services. Internet usage and social media are also emerging as an important tool in tourist product choice. Reaching the target audience through the social media channels, which have a high percentage of users, is of great importance for tourism enterprises and destinations. Tourism enterprises and destinations that want to reach their target audience through social media channels benefit from different promotional strategies. Recently, one of these strategies is the effort to publicize their products and brands through phenomenon and famous people via Instagram, one of the social media. The aim of the study at this point is to try to evaluate the impact of snobbism in tourism demand through Instagram users. Within the scope of the study, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 20 Instagram users living in Nişantaşı, one of Istanbul's most luxurious neighborhoods and participating in tourism movements using the semi-structured interview technique. Participants based on research findings; celebrity and phenomenon people are visiting tourism enterprises and destinations due to the impact of their Instagram shares. They care to make their friends aware of their sharing, to show that they can go to these places except for famous and phenomenal people. Therefore, the use of famous people and phenomena via Instagram in social media for the promotion of tourism enterprises and destinations will increase the demand of individuals for tourism and affect their choice of tourism enterprise and destination.