Evolution of the impact of social media in hospitality: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The emergence and rise of social media have affected how companies address consumers, taking particular relevance in some sectors, such as hospitality. Despite this importance in the research literature, there needs to be more delimitation and understanding of social media’s impact, specifically in the hospitality sector. Thus, this paper objective to learn about the evolution of social media research in hospitality and identify the main themes of interest in this research field. To this end, bibliometric analysis has been carried out using SciMAT software of 985 papers published from 2009 to March 31, 2023, on the Web of Science (WoS) platform referring to this research field. The main results show the relationship between user-generated and shared content and consumer satisfaction, particularly relevant to the hotel sector. In management and marketing in the hospitality sector, the focus on innovation and the implementation of new destination-oriented technologies stand out. It is also worth mentioning the relevance of engagement oriented to social networks related to the experiences and behaviour of consumers.