Against Social Sustainability? Gender Role Models and Tourism Influencers’ Success on Instagram

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of influencers with a special focus on the tourism industry. The question arises whether self-portrayal within a gender-stereotypical framework correlates positively with success and the number of followers. To this end, the profiles of twelve tourism influencers and their posted content in the first half of 2023 were analyzed. With the help of quantitative content analysis, we examined 427 photos of tourism influencers on the Instagram platform. The results show that while female tourism influencers more often present themselves in a sexualized way and focus on themselves and their bodies, male tourism influencers put their competencies in the foreground. In this way, both female and male influencers comply with their expected gender roles – in addition to the body, a presentation of socially expected actions and attributes is also in the foreground. The results are discussed against the background of social sustainability.