The use of influencer marketing in marketing communication of places

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to identify the use of influencer marketing in place communication. Design/methodology/approach: For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted using Scopus and Web of Science databases. Findings: A total of 28 articles were identified. Finally, after rejecting duplicates and publications that did not meet the established criteria, the content of 9 articles was analysed. The main thematic threads and research methods were presented and leading journals and countries addressing the analysed issues were identified. Research limitations/implications: The analysis only considers publications in English, which has the effect of limiting the number of publications analysed. Practical implications: The results show a small number of publications dedicated to this topic. The phenomenon of influencer marketing is relatively new and some of the social media platforms have been established over the last few years. This makes it clear that, despite the great popularity of influencers as brand ambassadors or creators worth including in building marketing communications, the topic still needs to be analysed, both on a practical and research basis. Originality/value: This is the first literature review focused on the issues of place marketing and influencer marketing as activities that can have a mutually beneficial impact on promoted tourism destinations. The results of the conducted analysis may be of interest to both researchers of the analysed issue and practitioners, including in particular governmental and local governmental organisations responsible for the promotion of places.