The purpose of this study is to investigate how social media and user-generated content (UGC) foster consumer engagement through the development of a good city image. Special emphasis is placed on the attitudes of potential visitors, how these attitudes affect a city’s image, and the perceived social distance between users and the authors of social media content. The study adopts a 2 x 2 experimental design in which high/low green image and high/low social distance are examined. The results suggest that a green city image has a significant effect on potential visitors’ attitude towards cities. Moreover, this study found that the effects of social media content varies according to the perceived social distance between the author of the post and potential visitors.

• Diletta Acuti(University of Pisa, Italy)
• Laura Grazzini(University of Florence, Italy)
• Valentina Mazzoli(University of Pisa, Italy)
• Gaetano Aiello(University of Florence, Italy)