• Copywriting Strategies in Tourism Facebook Fan Page Marketing: Investigating the Role of Gender Differences

Abstract

Purpose – This study aimed to determine what types of tourism Facebook fan page content are suitable given a target tourism product. Specifically, we examined the copywriting strategies used to create good Facebook fan page content. In addition, we were interested in exploring the role of gender in this type of decision-making.

Design/methodology/approach – We collected and analyzed Facebook postings of a leading Taiwanese travel agency. We collected a total of 547 posts from January 1, 2013, to May 31, 2014. These posts were classified into 168 tourist products.

Findings – The results of the research show that males prefer copywriting that contains rational advertisement appeals in posts while females prefer copywriting that contains emotional advertisement appeals in posts. Moreover, males prefer posts on tourism products that focus on sensation-seeking attractions, whereas female prefer posts that focus on sensation-avoiding attractions. We further found that posts that have a better fit between copywriting strategies and tourism products based on gender preferences can perform better in terms of total reach and greater numbers of comments, likes, and shares.

Research limitations/implications – This study finds that social media marketers should consider genders when designing marketing campaigns on corporate Facebook fan pages. Furthermore, gender differences also affect the design of copywriting for the product being marketed and the advertising appeals being used.

Practical implications/Social implications – This research demonstrates how to design a proper copywriting strategy based on gender differences. The results can benefit the tourism industry by equipping it with the theoretical principles to guide practitioners’ decisions.

Originality/value – While most of related studies are mainly focused on user-generated content strategy rather than firm-generated content strategy, this research adopts the perspective of the firm to facilitate our understanding of copywriting strategies on the firm’s owned social media platform.

Keywords – Facebook fan page, Social media, Copywriting strategy, Gender difference