In cryptocurrency markets, credibility may be created before it can be verified. Promotional signals from influencers, online communities, exchanges, and project actors can create an impression of legitimacy before consumers are able to independently assess the quality, risks, or underlying value of the asset. This systematic review examines how promotional activity contributes to this condition and how the literature connects it with ethical concerns, consumer consequences, and governance. Following PRISMA 2020, 54 empirical studies published between 2019 and 2025 were identified through Scopus and analyzed using thematic synthesis. The findings indicate that promotion is distributed across social media, influencers, communities, exchanges, and project actors, making the boundary between marketing, personal opinion, and financial advice difficult to maintain. Ethical problems arise not only from fraud, but also from selective information, hidden incentives, artificial attention, and market signals that give uncertain assets an appearance of legitimacy. Consumer vulnerability is similarly situational. Knowledge and experience may offer some protection, but trust, technological complexity, social influence, and speculative expectations continue to shape judgement. Regulatory and educational responses remain fragmented because responsibility is dispersed across actors and jurisdictions. The review connects these relationships through an ethical marketing cycle that conceptually organizes how ethical concerns may develop across communication, market activity, consumer interpretation, and governance. This perspective extends ethical marketing beyond the accuracy of individual claims and locates responsibility within the structures through which cryptocurrency credibility is produced. The review is limited by its reliance on Scopus and the absence of a formal risk-of-bias assessment of the included studies.
Yaning Zhang, Wei Shao, Mai Nguyen, Kun Zhang ¡ 5 authors
ABSTRACT Destinations are increasingly adopting NonâFungible Tokens (NFTs) as innovative tools for brand communication and visitor engagement in digital tourism contexts. Drawing on Construal Level Theory (CLT), we examine how the anthropomorphic (ANT) design of NFT characters influences tourists' impulsive travel intentions and whether customization strengthens this effect. In two online experiments, we tested a sequential mediation model linking ANT to impulsive travel intention through psychological distance (PD) and perceived playfulness. The results show that highly anthropomorphic NFT characters increase psychological proximity, which subsequently increases impulsive travel intentions. Moreover, customization significantly strengthens this indirect effect. This study extends research on digital destination marketing while offering practical guidance for designing effective NFTâbased tourism strategies.
This chapter explores how social media has become a transformative force in shaping modern startup ecosystems, particularly among digital-native entrepreneurs. Moving beyond traditional marketing, platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube now serve as full-fledged entrepreneurial infrastructuresâenabling ideation, brand building, fundraising, customer engagement and venture scaling. Through a critical examination of strategic platform use, influencer ecosystems, social commerce tools and ethical considerations, the chapter highlights the unique ways in which startups leverage digital culture to generate visibility and competitive advantage. Case studies across diverse geographies demonstrate how startups move from hashtag virality to unicorn valuation. It concludes by forecasting how AI, Web3 and immersive technologies will redefine future startupâsocial media synergies
Zheng Lin Chia, Hui Wei You, Sardar Muhammad Usman, Bee Wah Yap
Purpose Following the introduction of the European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation (ECSPR), crowdfunding has experienced rapid growth within the European alternative finance sector. However, the harmonisation of regulatory requirements has not fully eliminated concerns regarding information asymmetry among investors. This study aims to examines how financial disclosure (FINANCIALD) and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) function as disclosure-based signals that influence the success of equity and debt crowdfunding campaigns regulated under the ECSPR. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on signalling theory, this study examines campaign-level data from a single ECSPR-authorised crowdfunding platform: 154 Invesdor campaigns (123 equity crowdfunding and 31 debt crowdfunding campaigns) operating in Germany. Logistic regression is used as the primary estimation technique. The models account for a comprehensive set of campaign characteristics, including the number of project updates, fundraising-target disclosure, financing type and engagement-related features. Findings The results indicate that both FINANCIALD and SDG alignment have a positive and statistically significant relationship with crowdfunding success. Voluntary disclosure of accounting-related financial information and alignment with the SDGs are associated with a higher probability of achieving funding targets. In contrast, commonly studied campaign characteristics, such as media presence and the disclosure of founder background, do not show a strong influence on the success of equity and debt crowdfunding campaigns. Research limitations/implications The generalisability of the findings may be limited due to the studyâs focus on ECSPR-regulated campaigns in Germany. Future research could extend the analysis to cross-country comparisons, examine the quality of disclosures and investigate the impact of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI)-based auditing and blockchain-based reporting, on disclosure practices within crowdfunding markets. Practical implications The findings highlight the importance of transparent FINANCIALD and clearly communicated sustainability orientation for entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital through crowdfunding. For policymakers, the results highlight the complementary roles of regulation and voluntary disclosure in supporting trust and efficiency in financial technologies (FinTech)-enabled capital markets. The observed association with SDG alignment should not be interpreted as evidence of the credibility or actual sustainability performance of the disclosed commitments. Originality/value The research contributes to the evolving literature on FinTech regulation by providing a timely assessment of the ECSPRâs impact on investor behaviour. It identifies a critical shift in the crowdfunding landscape: while regulatory harmonisation provides a baseline, voluntary financial transparency remains a primary differentiator for campaign success. The findings offer unique value to policymakers by demonstrating how standardised European regulations interact with voluntary disclosures to enhance market efficiency.
R. Priyadharsini, Ravikanth Reddy Vadamala, R. Raajalakshmi, K. Raghav Prasad ¡ 5 authors
The rapid transformation of global business environments driven by digitalization, technological advancement, changing consumer expectations, and competitive market dynamics has significantly altered traditional marketing practices and strategic business operations. Organizations operating in highly dynamic economic ecosystems are increasingly recognizing that conventional marketing frameworks alone are insufficient to sustain long-term growth, customer engagement, and market relevance. In this context, innovation-driven marketing models have emerged as a critical strategic approach that integrates creativity, data intelligence, technological innovation, customer-centric design, and adaptive business strategies to enhance organizational competitiveness and sustainable value creation. This research examines the growing significance of innovation-driven marketing models and their influence on consumer behavior, brand positioning, digital engagement, operational efficiency, and business sustainability across modern industries. The study explores how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics, blockchain, cloud computing, augmented reality, and social media ecosystems are transforming traditional marketing processes into highly personalized, predictive, and experience-oriented systems capable of responding to rapidly evolving market demands. The research further investigates how innovation-oriented marketing strategies support product differentiation, dynamic pricing, omnichannel communication, customer relationship management, and real-time market responsiveness in both online and offline commercial environments. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of innovation in enhancing customer engagement through interactive digital platforms, data-driven personalization, automated communication systems, influencer-based branding strategies, and experiential marketing campaigns. The study also evaluates how organizations leverage innovative business models to improve customer retention, market expansion, and strategic decision-making while simultaneously addressing challenges related to market uncertainty, consumer trust, technological adaptation, and ethical data utilization. A comparative assessment of traditional marketing approaches and innovation-driven marketing frameworks demonstrates that organizations adopting innovation-centric strategies experience stronger consumer loyalty, improved operational agility, enhanced brand visibility, and higher adaptability to changing economic conditions. Additionally, the research highlights the growing importance of sustainability-oriented marketing innovation, where businesses integrate environmental responsibility, social value creation, and ethical consumer engagement into their branding and communication practices. The findings indicate that innovation-driven marketing models not only contribute to commercial profitability but also strengthen organizational resilience and long-term strategic sustainability in highly competitive global markets. The study concludes that future business success increasingly depends on the ability of organizations to continuously innovate their marketing structures, technological capabilities, and customer engagement mechanisms in alignment with digital transformation and evolving consumer expectations. Therefore, innovation-driven marketing represents a transformative strategic paradigm capable of reshaping modern business ecosystems through intelligent, adaptive, and customer-focused value creation models.
Mingqian Li, Rong Du, Andrew BurtonâJones, Jianing Xie
Purpose Grounded in signaling theory, this study examines whether traceability information displaces or complements incumbent quality cues and contrasts the relative efficacy of blockchain-enabled traceability technologies with traditional systems. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzes 18 months of product-level sales data from a global e-commerce platform using a staggered difference-in-differences design with robustness checks. We apply latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling to consumer reviews and use a synthetic difference-in-differences approach to examine shifts in consumer attention after traceability implementation. Findings Traceability information increases product sales, particularly for lower-reputation brands and diminishes the effect of electronic word-of-mouth, suggesting that diagnostic quality signals matter more than social information signals. Although blockchain-enabled traceability should enhance signal credibility, its observed impact falls short of expectations. Research limitations/implications The sample is limited to the automotive engine oil context in China. Future research should examine other categories and national contexts. Practical implications Platform managers and emerging brands can deploy low-cost traceability labels to boost demand. Blockchain solutions may require consumer education to justify higher implementation costs. Social implications Augmenting supply-chain transparency and product traceability curbs counterfeit and substandard goods, improves consumer welfare, and supports regulatory and sustainability objectives. Originality/value This study systematically assesses the substitutive and complementary roles of traceability signals in a multi-cue setting, tempers optimism about blockchain-enabled traceability and extends research on digital supply-chain transparency and signaling theory.
Cheuk Hang Au, Po-Hsu Shieh, Vladimir Nurbaev, Kris M. Y. Law ¡ 5 authors
Digital platforms face a fundamental paradox: while expanding service variety is a dominant competitive strategy, it risks inducing a âparadox of choiceâ that confuses and deters users. This tension manifests with extreme clarity in the nascent, high-complexity market of cryptocurrency exchanges, creating a pressing empirical puzzle. To resolve this, we adopt the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) perspective in a three-stage mixed-method study to investigate how platforms can strategically manage this trade-off. Our qualitative exploration (Study 1) established a capital flow schema called âinflow, roll, and goâ and identified key complexity-reduction mechanisms. A subsequent survey (n = 190, Study 2) validated that perceived innovativeness and scalability are critical stimuli for service variety, which in turn drives user continuance intention. A final survey (n = 140, Study 3) confirmed that users prioritise services that bridge to the traditional financial system, forming a minimal viable structure with a variety of functions. Our meta-inferences make several key contributions, including the resolution of the service variety paradox by introducing a theoretical distinction between value-adding âreal-varietyâ and confusing âpseudo-varietyâ and the development of a strategic roadmap that guides exchanges in navigating the tension between service expansion and user confusion, offering actionable insights for platform strategy in any high-velocity digital market.
Purpose This paper aims to investigate how brands emerge and acquire value in decentralized digital ecosystems and examines the role of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on social media in shaping their market interest and valuation. Design/methodology/approach The research design considers two studies: one exploratory, based on interviews with Web3 experts and the other on econometric analysis of data from X (13 million tweets relating to 7 Web3-native brands) and OpenSea (315 million nonfungible token [NFT] transactions). Findings The findings show that brand value formation in decentralized environments rests on three layers: an asset-based value layer, a network-based value layer and a marketplace-based value layer. The research demonstrates that both the volume and valence of eWOM independently influence consumer awareness, desirability and the value or price of NFT-based brands in the marketplace. However, their interaction, or an excessively positive eWOM, can have a counterproductive effect, signaling hype and reducing perceived credibility in speculative digital markets. Research limitations/implications The research contributes to the emerging Web3 literature by proposing an empirical framework for decentralized brand value formation in digital ecosystems. The framework captures how brand value is generated and how eWOM and marketplace trading and activities influence this value in decentralized environments. However, the analysis is based on seven Web3 native brands and on data gathered in the context of a bull market. Practical implications The study offers brand managers empirical insights into branding in decentralized ecosystems. It provides operational strategies for decision-makers who are seeking to develop effective branding strategies in emerging decentralized marketplaces. Social implications The study shows that decentralized branding empowers users and online communities to shape Web3 brand value. Originality/value The study contributes to the growing understanding of decentralized branding by showing how brand value and eWOM dynamics shape brand creation in decentralized and speculative markets. It shows that digital discourse can simultaneously function as a mechanism of brand amplification and as a potential signal of speculative overvaluation. To the best of the authorsâ knowledge, it is the first study that proposes an empirical investigation of the value of decentralized branding and its relation to eWOM.
This study examines PUPS, a representative Bitcoin ecosystem project, to elucidate the success mechanisms of Web3 meme projects. We test three hypotheses: (H1) community sentiment and social media virality constitute the fundamental drivers of meme asset valuation; (H2) core participants accumulate positions at low prices and distribute at peak valuations; (H3) meme diffusion is predominantly driven by internal imitation, significantly outweighing external marketing effects. Applying event study methodology, social network analysis, and the Bass diffusion model to social media and on-chain data, our findings support all hypotheses, revealing a âpropagationâsentimentâtradingâ pathway. We identify a distinctive âcommunity fingerprintâ comprising 348 original holders and 5,036 6-core addresses, characterizing them as both community stabilizers and hype catalysts. This pattern illustrates the paradox of âeconomic recentralizationâ within technically decentralized systems. Paradoxically, the founder's public assertion that âeverything will eventually go to zeroâ evolved into a cultural ritual that reinforced community consensus. This study concludes by proposing a âmeme financializationâ framework, offering novel perspectives for understanding âAttention as Capitalâ, âConsensus as Valueâ, and âNarrative as Assetâ in Web3 ecosystems.
This study examines whether retail social media sentiment and community attention explain daily net capital flows into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and whether issuer brand visibility conditions that relationship. We construct a balanced panel of N=10 ETFs over T=514 trading days (January 2024 to January 2026) and combine it with 162,819 cleaned Reddit posts to derive three AI-driven discourse variables: engagement-weighted sentiment, community attention, and a novel issuer-specific BrandScore. Entity fixed-effects regressions show that neither aggregate sentiment nor BrandScore level alone significantly predicts fund-level flows; however, the Sentiment à BrandScore interaction is significant (β^=2.930, p=0.038), indicating that sentiment becomes economically meaningful only when attached to a visible issuer. This interaction survives two-way (entity + date) fixed effects (p=0.012) and winsorization (p=0.004). Panel quantile regressions reveal distributional heterogeneity in the brand-sentiment channel. Rolling 90-day window estimation confirms the mechanism is episodic, with the interaction achieving significance in 62.8% of subsample windows. These results provide suggestive evidence for a brand-filtered sentiment transmission mechanism in digital asset markets.
The purpose of this paper is to identify the industry-specific and geographic patterns that shape the adoption of Web 3.0 technologies among Fortune Global 500 companies. The study addresses a gap in the existing literature by shifting attention from isolated technological applications such as blockchain, decentralized finance, artificial intelligence, and immersive environments toward a broader comparative analysis of how large multinational corporations adopt Web 3.0 across sectors and countries. Methodology. The paper is based on an empirical classification of Fortune Global 500 companies for 2024 into adopters and non-adopters of Web 3.0 technologies. The dataset includes 500 firms and covers sector affiliation, country of origin, employee counts, selected financial indicators, company characteristics, and a binary indicator of adoption status. The analysis applies descriptive statistics, comparative analysis, and cross-tabulations using publicly available data from annual reports, strategic plans, press releases, marketing materials, news coverage, and business databases. Results. The findings show that Web 3.0 adoption is significant but uneven: 216 companies are identified as adopters, while 284 are classified as non-adopters, indicating that Web 3.0 remains in a transitional stage of corporate diffusion. Adoption is concentrated in digitally intensive sectors such as Information Technology Services, Computer Software, Entertainment, Apparel, and selected Health Care activities, whereas sectors such as Transportation and Logistics, Real Estate, Homebuilders, and Medical Products and Equipment demonstrate limited or no adoption in the dataset. Geographic differences are also substantial, with adoption present in 25 out of 35 countries represented in the sample, although the intensity of adoption varies across national contexts. The results confirm that Web 3.0 diffusion is shaped by the interaction of sectoral structure, strategic fit, and geographic environment rather than by a uniform technological trajectory. Practical implications. The paper suggests that managers should approach Web 3.0 as a strategic option whose relevance depends on alignment with the firmâs business model, customer value proposition, governance needs, and innovation capabilities. Value/originality. The originality of the study lies in its cross-sectoral and cross-national perspective on Web 3.0 adoption among the worldâs largest corporations, offering a more nuanced understanding of digital transformation in the Web 3.0 era and demonstrating that adoption is patterned, selective, and contingent rather than universal.
Social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) increasingly shape attention formation, market visibility, and value signaling in electronic commerce, particularly in emerging digital asset markets such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Prior work shows that social engagement correlates with NFT prices, suggesting its potential for valuation support. However, open social platforms exhibit heterogeneous user credibility, automated activity, and coordinated promotion, which can distort engagement-based inference. To address these challenges, we propose NFT-TRUST, a trust-aware social signal modeling framework that transforms raw engagement into credibility- and integrity-aware indicators for robust valuation support under manipulation-prone conditions. The framework integrates three components: (i) Credibility-Weighted Social Signal Aggregation (CW-SSA), (ii) Engagement Disproportionality Detection (EDD), and (iii) Integrity-Aware Signal Attenuation (IASA), which jointly reduce the influence of unreliable or manipulated signals while preserving informative engagement. Rather than estimating intrinsic NFT value from social signals alone, NFT-TRUST evaluates the reliability of social attention and converts it into trust-aware features. An XGBoost-based model is used to capture non-linear interactions among these features. Robustness is assessed through stress testing with RL-TweetGen-ST, a reinforcement learningâbased synthetic tweet generator that simulates controlled engagement inflation. Experimental results show that NFT-TRUST achieves competitive predictive performance while demonstrating improved stability under simulated manipulation. Ablation analysis indicates that credibility and integrity components are complementary and jointly enhance the reliability of social-signal-based inference. Overall, this work advances trust-aware analytics in electronic commerce and supports more reliable social-driven valuation in emerging digital markets.
The event management sector has experienced significant technological transformation, creating both new opportunities and complex challenges for organizers and participants. This study explores emerging trends reshaping the planning and experience of events, with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), which enables personalized program recommendations, chatbot interactions, and predictive analytics. Hybrid and virtual formats have become standard, offering interactive digital environments and gamified experiences. Technologies such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) enhance engagement through virtual venue walkthroughs and immersive exhibitions. Smart devices, wearables, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications support access control, real-time analytics, and contactless transactions, while blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) add security and exclusivity to ticketing systems. Digital marketing strategiesâlike influencer outreach, short-form video content (TikTok, Instagram Reels), and AI-generated mediaâare also examined for their role in increasing event visibility and audience interaction. The study highlights sustainability efforts such as digital ticketing, energy-efficient infrastructure, waste reduction, and carbon offsetting. These innovations position technology not just as a logistical tool but as a driver of sustainable and impactful event design. Drawing on Hungaryâs recent experience in hosting international sporting events, we analyze fan engagement tools like dance cams, AI-powered look-alike cams, and personalized athlete intro cards. Expert interviews from the FINA World Championships (2022), World Athletics Championships (2023), and Swimming Championships (25m) (2024) offer insights into how such tools enhanced audience involvement and operational efficiency. The findings emphasize the strategic role of technology in enriching attendee experiences and delivering innovative, future-ready event solutions.
Social media has become a transformative force for entrepreneurship, enabling startups to access global markets, engage directly with customers, and build brands with limited resources. This study explores the role of social media in entrepreneurial success, focusing on platform-specific strategies, consumer engagement, and challenges faced by startups. Using qualitative methods, including thematic analysis of interviews and case studies, the study identifies key themes such as data-driven decision-making, authenticity, and leveraging influencer partnerships. Findings suggest that social media acts as a critical resource for startups, offering opportunities for growth while requiring adaptability to navigate challenges like algorithm changes and content saturation. The study integrates theoretical frameworks such as the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capabilities Framework to contextualize the findings and provide actionable insights for entrepreneurs. Future research directions include examining emerging platforms like Web3 and AI-driven social media strategies to further advance the understanding of digital entrepreneurship.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represent an emerging innovation in tourism, enabling destinations to create digital assets embedded within socio-technical ecosystems. Drawing on assemblage theory and qualitative data from netnography and semi-structured interviews, this study explores how motivations and constraints of tourism NFT consumption emerge through consumer interactions. Findings identify self-extension motivations including memorization, symbolic meanings, and socialization, and self-expansion motivations including ownership, economic and transferability benefits, hedonism, and learning. Additionally self-restriction and self-reduction constraints are identified. These findings advance understanding of tourism NFTs from an interaction-centric perspective and provide practical strategies for destinations marketing using blockchain technologies.
Alexander Kropiunig, Svetlana Kremer, Bernhard Haslhofer
Crypto Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) shape Web3 narratives and retail investment behaviour. In volatile, high-risk markets, their credibility becomes a key determinant of their influence on followers. Yet prior research has focused on lifestyle influencers or generic financial commentary, leaving crypto KOLs' understandings of motivation, credibility, and responsibility underexplored. Drawing on interviews with 13 KOLs and self-determination theory (SDT), we examine how psychological needs are negotiated alongside monetisation and community expectations. Whereas prior work treats finfluencer credibility as a set of static credentials, our findings reveal it to be a self-determined, ethically enacted practice. We identify four community-recognised markers of credibility: self-regulation, bounded epistemic competence, accountability, and reflexive self-correction. This reframes credibility as socio-technical performance, extending SDT into high-risk crypto ecosystems. Methodologically, we employ a hybrid human-LLM thematic analysis. The study surfaces implications for designing credibility signals that prioritise transparency over hype.
The rapid rise in cryptocurrencies has created an investment environment marked by unprecedented levels of information volume, fragmentation, and volatility. While prior research has examined drivers of trust and adoption in crypto markets, far less is known about the psychological consequences of information overload on investor decision-making. This study addresses this gap through nineteen semi-structured interviews with individual cryptocurrency investors, analyzed using an inductive, manually conducted thematic approach. Findings reveal four interconnected dynamics: decision fatigue and paralysis, heuristic reliance on influencers and peers, emotional strain characterized by anxiety and fear of missing out (FOMO), and diverse coping strategies ranging from selective filtering to withdrawal. These results demonstrate that crypto investing is not only a financial process but also a cognitively and emotionally taxing experience. By linking investor narratives to broader theories of decision fatigue, bounded rationality, and consumer vulnerability, the study contributes to interdisciplinary debates in marketing, behavioral finance, and consumer psychology. Practically, the findings highlight the need for clearer communication strategies, supportive platform design, and financial education initiatives that help investors manage cognitive strain and decision fatigue. In a market where credibility is fluid and decisions are often made under conditions of overload, understanding the psychological dimensions of investment behavior is essential.
Introduction: Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly reshaping hospitality by automating frontline and back-of-house processes, augmenting service encounters, and expanding the analytical scope of revenue management. Yet, existing research remains fragmented: service-robot studies largely emphasize adoption and human-robot interaction, while revenue-management research prioritizes pricing and distribution, sustainability research focuses on environmental practices, and hotel real-estate scholarship foregrounds governance and asset value. Meanwhile, blockchain technologies-through distributed ledgers, smart contracts, digital identity, and tokenization-offer a complementary trust and value-transfer layer that can address coordination and verification problems across hotel ecosystems (e.g., data sharing, sustainability claims, and owner-operator contracting). Methods: Drawing on an integrative literature synthesis, this conceptual article develops an integrative framework linking AI-robotics and blockchain capabilities to three interdependent hotel decision domains: (1) revenue management (demand forecasting, dynamic/open pricing, channel and loyalty optimization), (2) sustainability and operations (resource optimization, waste circularity, predictive maintenance), and (3) real estate and hotel asset management (digital twins, CapEx planning, valuation and risk analytics, and tokenized financing). Results: A conceptual model is proposed in which AI-robotics and blockchain jointly build digital operational and market-intelligence capabilities that improve financial performance (RevPAR/GOPPAR and net operating income), sustainability performance (carbon and resource intensity), and long-term asset value. Ten propositions articulate mechanisms and boundary conditions related to governance, ethics, privacy, cybersecurity, organizational readiness, regulation, and market context. Discussion: The article concludes with implications for hotel managers, owners, investors, and researchers, and outlines a future research agenda for hospitality, tourism, service management, and real-estate scholars.
This chapter examines the adoption of blockchain technology (BCT) in the tourism and hospitality industry (THI). Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are one of the tools of BCT. NFTs are reshaping THI with innovative ways of ownership and engagement. Focusing on value co-creation (VCC), this chapter evaluates how NFTs enable travellers to participate in the creation, personalisation, and sharing of experiences. Thus, based on the literature, we discuss the use cases of NFTs. Moreover, this chapter benchmarks THI start-ups that incorporate NFTs into their business models. This chapter discusses the benefits and challenges of NFTs in THI, including the co-creation mechanism and the long-term value of NFTs. Additionally, this chapter highlights the gaps that exist between the potential contribution of NFTs to the tourist and tourism ecosystem and their current usage. Researchers and practitioners can gain insights into the changing digital landscape of tourism by combining VCC theory with practical start-up methods.
In the digitally connected era, travel planning is increasingly hindered by the fragmentation of platforms used for destination discovery, accommodation booking, and experience sharing, forcing travelers to switch between multiple applications and leading to inefficiency, inconsistent information, and reduced satisfaction. To overcome this challenge, TripTale is introduced as an integrated web-based platform that unifies travel discovery, booking, and social interaction within a single ecosystem. The system enables users to explore destinations by selecting their country, state, and district, providing curated lists of tourist attractions with detailed highlights, cultural significance, and local specialties. By leveraging location-based services and interactive mapping, TripTale delivers real-time recommendations for nearby hotels, cafes, and lodges, allowing users to complete reservations directly within the platform. In addition to planning and booking, TripTale incorporates social networking features that allow travelers to upload photos, write reviews, and share travel tips, fostering a collaborative community and improving information reliability through shared experiences. A distinctive feature of TripTale is the integration of blockchain technology to authenticate and preserve travel memories. Users can convert their journeys into Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), ensuring secure, tamper- proof, and verifiable ownership of their digital experiences, thereby transforming personal travel records into collectible digital assets. The platform is implemented using HTML5, Tailwind CSS, and JavaScript for the frontend, while FastAPI and Supabase manage backend services such as authentication, data storage, and real-time updates. Cloud deployment on Vercel and Render ensures high availability and scalability, while integration with Google Maps API enables dynamic navigation and location intelligence. By combining modern web technologies, blockchain innovation, and user-centered design, TripTale provides a comprehensive and future- ready solution that simplifies travel planning, enhances user engagement, and preserves valuable travel experiences in a secure digital environment.