PhD student in Information Systems and Innovation
Research Interests
Thesis: 'How are User-Generated-Content Websites Involved in Personal Travel Habits and What Role Does the Concept of Trust Play in This?'
My research aims to unmask the factors related to travel habits in contemporary society which is marked by the emergence of a participatory culture and a collective intelligence. The virtual travel communities, where users share experiences and interact, have changed the influence that traditional marketing campaigns had on buying decisions. The Internet is evolving rapidly and Social Media are the manifestation of the most engaged media generation and presents many challenging aspects.
Therefore it becomes interesting to study the environment in which these changes occur through the perspectives of different stakeholders: the users and the employees of the most established travel community. Furthermore, part of the study will take into consideration the deconstruction of the role of trust as a significant social mechanism which seems to influence the phenomenon in various ways. It is an endeavour to illustrate the dimensions of personal travel habits in an ever evolving virtual environment with unique features. In the end, is it an evolutionary process or a revolution?
To achieve this, the distinctive and rapidly evolving environment of Web 2.0 is taken into consideration. This study will be aligned with the contemporary tendencies and requirements of information systems methodology. Social media and user-generated-content are dynamic phenomena; they represent a mosaic of different spaces with particular methodological requirements. Thus, the study will employ a range of methodological approaches to delve into the phenomena described above, such as versions of virtual ethnography, netnography and multi-sited virtual ethnography.
Supervisor