The literature on status, product symbolism, product involvement, and reference group influence is reviewed to conceptually define the Product Symbolic Status construct. The research consisted of two studies (N = 524) that examined 17 different product types to develop and validate the Product Symbolic Status (PSS) scale. The PSS scale is comprised of four facets: self-concept, impression management, lifestyle, and social visibility. The PSS scale consists of nine items which produced an average reliability of α = .90 and showed evidence of convergent and discriminant validity in MTMM analyses with the constructs of product value-expressiveness, product involvement, and product exclusivity/luxury. The PSS scale can also be used for brand symbolic status research. The marketing and advertising research implications are discussed.

As an emerging group that wields its increasing influence through social media, social media influencers (SMIs) have continued to grow as a key component of firms’ digital marketing strategies. However, several aspects of SMIs merit attention: their personal characteristics, content features, and how they influence consumers’ decision-making as well as online engagement. By using the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model together with theories of social connection and social influence, this dissertation reveals the influence of SMIs on consumer behaviors in tourism and hospitality contexts by investigating travel SMIs’ influencing stimuli, mechanisms, and audience responses. Study 1 extracts topics from comments on posts created by two travel SMIs from different cultures; identifies these SMIs’ personal characteristics and content features; and uncovers how travel SMIs wield social connection, value-expressive influence, and informational influence from a cross-cultural perspective. Study 2 includes a pair of sub-studies that quantitatively examine travel SMIs’ marketing effectiveness and unveil associated mechanisms by focusing on social influence theory (i.e., value-expressive and informational influences). Topic modeling, netnographic analysis with social media data, and experimental designs are adopted to achieve all research objectives. Findings extend the understanding of travel SMIs’ influencing processes in consumers’ decision making/online engagement and provide practical implications for applying SMI marketing in tourism and hospitality. / Tourism and Sport

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