Instagram as a modern tourist agency : A case study of influencers impact on the tourists of Bali

Sammanfattning: Instagram is a phenomenon which has the recent years gotten significance within the marketing field. Traditional marketing is being replaced by online-marketing. A concept of marketing that is still evolving within the research field is Instagram influencer marketing. To understand influencer marketing, first and foremost it is crucial to understand the relation between an influencer and an Instagram user. To understand the relation, the study was conducted as a case study focusing on tourists. Furthermore, the research aimed to study a specific location and since its high number of Instagram attention received, the Indonesian island, Bali, was chosen. Thereby, this case study examined the impact influencers had on tourists of Bali. The research was implemented through a mixed methodology approach to content analysis. The data was collected directly from Instagram and contained findings such as engagement rates, favored destinations and motivations for travel. The findings showed that Instagram gains a lot of focus upon choosing a travel destination and upon visiting locations in Bali during the trip. The study concluded that influencers are being viewed asinformation sources by travelers. Furthermore, influencers impact Instagram user’s perception and create visit intention. They also implement norms on how the Instagram posts should look to be found attracting, which the users follow to make their feed look captivating.