FROM COMMENTS TO HASHTAGS STRATEGIES: ENHANCING CRUISE COMMUNICATION IN FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

Abstract

Web 2.0 allows firms to implement innovative forms of communication and cocreation with customers. Despite the value of social media for tourism, few researchers have analyzed the content strategies of cruise lines on Facebook and Twitter. This study contributes by introducing a new approach to content strategy development, proposing a concept for firms to enhance their social media activity - STAR model – applied to three major cruise lines’ social media activity. Digital activity was proven to be quite different among company websites, Facebook and Twitter, and among the Norwegian, Princess and Disney Cruise lines. Companies tend to have its own base of fans and followers, but these have a common language, reflected in their hashtags. Results show that to have a content-oriented strategy that maximizes engagement in social media, a cruise line should share rich multimedia content that leverages storytelling values and that can be used on multiple platforms.