EFTI’s “Insights” Seminar Series – Fuad Mehraliyev on Expert Power of Social Media Platforms

October 12th, 2018

Fuad Mehraliyev is a visiting scholar from Azerbaijan, where he received his bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Social Cultural Service from Baku State University in 2008. After his graduation from Umeå University in 2012, he returned to his home country and worked as a Lecturer for four years at Western University. In August 2016, Fuad was granted a fellowship from Hong Kong Research Grants Council for his PhD study at the School of Hotel & Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is expected to graduate in August 2019. His research interests are information communication technologies, social media power, and experimental design in tourism studies.

In his presentation titled, ‘Expert Power of Social Media Platforms: Examining the Effects of Experience and Specialization’ Fuad explained his research using social power theory to examine psychological effects of experience and specialization on tourists’ perceptions towards platform’s expertise and task-fit.

Some of the key takeaways of the discussion establish that both experience and specialization work as attributes of the platform’s expert power and lead to perceived expertise. Interaction effect between the two attributes suggests that new platforms should consider specialization strategies, whereas experienced platforms can benefit from diversification.