Comparing the Influences of Tourism Live Streaming and Short-Form Video for Young Chinese: A Qualitative Investigation

ABSTRACT

This article reports on an exploratory study aimed at better understanding how the features of tourism live streaming (TLS) and tourism short-form video (TSV) differently and similarly influence young Chinese. For this exploratory study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Douyin users about their experiences using TLS and TSV. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. The findings show that as video tools for social media, both TLS and TSV expand users’ horizons and enhance their understanding of destinations. Comparatively, however, TLS provides users with a much more realistic and ‘real-time’ view of the destination than TSV. On the other hand, TSV allows users to review destination information in ways that TLS cannot and, to a degree, can also enhance destination appeal through the use of ‘staged’ videos. Furthermore, TLS and TSV differ in terms of functionality. This study adds to the body of knowledge concerned with the influences of mobile technologies on tourist consumption and production. In addition, key findings are likely to be of use to tourism destination managers and marketers seeking to operationalize TLS and TSV for promotional purposes.

比较旅游直播和短视频对中国年轻人的影响:一项定性研究摘要

本文报告了一项探索性研究，旨在更好地了解旅游直播(TLS)和旅游短视频(TSV)的特征如何不同和相似地影响中国年轻人。对于这项探索性研究，我们对抖音用户进行了半结构化访谈，并收集了抖音用户使用旅游直播和旅游短视频的体验。同时，主题分析法被应用于数据分析。研究结果表明，作为社交媒体中的视频工具，旅游直播和旅游短视频都扩宽了用户的视野，并增强了他们对目的地的理解。相比之下，旅游直播为用户提供了比旅游短视频更真实和‘实况’的目的地景象。另一方面，旅游短视频允许用户以旅游直播无法做到的方式浏览目的地信息，并且在一定程度上还可以通过使用‘舞台化’视频提高目的地的吸引力。此外，旅游直播和旅游短视频在功能上也有所不同。本研究增加了有关移动科技对旅游消费和生产影响的知识体系。此外，主要研究结果可能对希望将旅游直播和旅游短视频应用于营销目的的旅游目的地管理者和市场经营者有帮助。

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• tourism live streaming
• tourism short-form video
• Young Chinese tourists
• Douyin

关 键词:

• 社会化媒体，旅游直播，旅游短视频，中国年轻游客，抖音

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Like Douyin and Tiktok, Reels provides short-form video functionality within Instagram.

2. Web 2.0 refers to user-oriented Web platforms that emphasize UGC, ease of use, and interactivity.

3. The theme hashtag from Douyin. https://v.douyin.com/FfkhnET/.

4. MAXQDA is software that can help authors to organize data efficiently. With the help of MAXQDA, authors can match the audio to the transcript and coding quickly, using different markers and colors to code.

5. A rocket is a virtual gift launched by Douyin. When audiences give a rocket to live-streamers in live streaming channel, Douyin will give live-streamers a share based on the price of the rocket.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yilin li

Yilin Li is a master student in the Department of Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Her main research interest is in the relationship between digital technology and tourist behaviour (E-mail: [email protected]).

Stuart Hayes

Stuart Hayes is a Lecturer in the Department of Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. His main research interest is in the area of postgraduate tourism education. He is also interested in the relationship between digital technology and tourist behaviour (E-mail: [email protected]).