Analysis of Blogs and Microblogs: A Case Study of Chinese Bloggers Sharing Their Hong Kong Travel Experiences

Abstract

Blogs and microblogs became popular in recent years among people who would like to share their travel experiences online. This is a phenomenon which marketers are interested in but know very little about. This exploratory study analyzes blog and microblog contents created by mainland Chinese visitors sharing their Hong Kong experiences, with the objective of gaining insights into how bloggers communicate their travel experiences and how this could help market a destination. Three hundred blog posts and 300 microblog posts are analyzed. Research results indicate a generally positive image of Hong Kong as a destination among the mainland Chinese bloggers. The study also profiles the bloggers by their usage pattern and identifies opportunities for using the social media for destination marketing purpose. While the case study is about Hong Kong, the research method and blogging patterns identified would also apply in other destination situations.

Comparative Analysis of User-generated and Travel agency photo posting in Chinese Microblog

“…Therefore, microblog contributes to improve social transparency and user involvement (Marques et al, 2013). This is the reason why many researchers believe that microblog can be a new means for firms to gain insights as to consumer satisfaction or evaluation (Tse & Zhang, 2012), similar to other forms of social media.…”

“…As one of the most popular platforms of social media in China, Microblog has been regarded as a sharing tool for travel experiences by social media users in recent years (Tse & Zhang, 2012). Taken from the concept of a blog, microblog is a kind of new platform utilized by general users, firms or organizations to post or share information limited to 140 characters (Akehurst, 2009).…”

“…And the postings permit users to express their feelings through text, photos, video or URL links (Tse & Zhang, 2012). Unlike a blog, microblog allows users to post status or share news using mobile devices instantly (Cheng & Yan, 2012;Tse & Zhang, 2012) and it allows microbloggers to act as followers to follow other users which they are interested in, and be able to read, share or comment on their posts (Marques, Krejci, Siqueira, Pimentel & Braz, 2013). As an author-based social media, a blog is focused on the profile and messages of the author whereas a microblog is a reader-based form which pays more attention to all the postings from related users and channels.…”

“…Taken from the concept of a blog, microblog is a kind of new platform utilized by general users, firms or organizations to post or share information limited to 140 characters (Akehurst, 2009). And the postings permit users to express their feelings through text, photos, video or URL links (Tse & Zhang, 2012). Unlike a blog, microblog allows users to post status or share news using mobile devices instantly (Cheng & Yan, 2012;Tse & Zhang, 2012) and it allows microbloggers to act as followers to follow other users which they are interested in, and be able to read, share or comment on their posts (Marques, Krejci, Siqueira, Pimentel & Braz, 2013).…”

Online representation of Switzerland as a tourism destination: An exploratory research on a Chinese microblogging platform

“…Chinese and British tour operators), and how these matters can affect the actual market development (Sausmarez, Tao, & McGrath, 2012). Tse and Zhang (2013) explored online travel experience sharing by Chinese people, focusing on blogs' and microblogs' posts about Hong Kong as a tourism destination. The study results confirmed that opinions expressed from analyzed blogs and microblogs could identify opportunities to use social media for destination online communication and marketing.…”