CSR Communication on Instagram before and during COVID-19: comparative document analysis of the four most followed town DMO's in Finland

• Main Author: Kaappola, Marianne
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Tourism; fi=Majoitus- ja ravitsemisala|sv=Inkvarterings- och kosthållsbranschen|en=Hotel and Restaurant|; social media; communication; Instagram; COVID-19; corporate responsibility; Degree Programme in Aviation and Tourism Business; Rovaniemi
• Online Access: http://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/749403

The purpose of this study was to understand the possible changes COVID-19 caused to CSR related content on the Instagram accounts of the four most followed town destinations of Finland and also if it affected to the frequency of the CSR communication. The theoretical framework of the study consists of CSR communication in tourism and destination marketing on social media. It is a literature review of previous research, published statistics, literature in the field, websites and to some extent also blog posts by expert organizations in the field. The empirical part of the study is a multiple case study. The cases were selected by the number of the followers on Instagram (My Helsinki, Visit Turku, Visit Tampere and Visit Rovaniemi). The research period was limited to 2018-2021. Qualitative data for the study was collected by gathering all the CSR related posts (documents) and was then analysed with content analysis, in which quantitative methods were as well used. Content analysis was based on theory-derived model of CSR communication. The results of the study show that COVID-19 changed not only the content of CSR communication on Instagram but also how often CSR was communicated. There was more communication about responsibility and the content of the Instagram posts changed so that after the outbreak of corona pandemic in spring 2020, almost all CSR communication content was related to COVID in one way or another. In 2021, however, the same growth in CSR communication was no longer seen, and the amount of CSR communication decreased, and its content changed to cover the same themes as before the pandemic, although the pandemic was still ongoing. The only exception to this was Visit Rovaniemi, where both the total number of posts and the volume of CSR communication continued to grow, and the posts continued to relate mainly to the corona pandemic. Generally, in the years before the pandemic, socio-cultural and environmental responsibility were the most visible themes of the CSR. The results of the study can be ...