Baby Boomers look to TripAdvisor to chase away their winter blues

TripAdvisor topped the list in our latest AdAge-Harris Poll Boomer brand tracker. This quarterly index uses data from QuestBrand by The Harris Poll to rank the top 20 brands by brand equity growth among Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964).

Brand equity measures the value consumers see in a brand at a particular moment of time. It is an average of four components: brand familiarity, perceived quality, purchase consideration, and perceived momentum. 

Want more information on travel industry trends? Check out our Travel: An Industry Snapshot report for insights and brand data. 

From Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, TripAdvisor experienced a +10.5 lift in brand equity among Baby Boomers – with a +17.4 increase in brand familiarity, and a +12.9 increase in consideration. Among the general population of US adults, TripAdvisor’s brand equity only rose +5.3 over this same period.

TripAdvisor Brand Equity Q4 2023 vs Q1 2024

QuestBrand. Base: Baby Boomers. Pre: 10/1/23-12/31/23, n=376. Post: 1/1/24-3/31/24, n=408.

Trip Plan Those Winter Blues Away

Three of the top five brands in this quarter’s Boomer brand tracker were travel-related – TripAdvisor (+10.5), Yelp (+7.6) and Wikipedia (+7.3). It looks like Boomers spent the colder parts of the year actively planning their summer travel. 

“TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Wikipedia are among the first places to start when planning any trip or experience, and it’s perhaps unsurprising that these three brands place within the top four surging brands among boomers in Q1—especially as many plan their escapist summertime travel during the heart of winter.” – Harris Poll co-CEO Will Johnson

Beyond trip planning, TripAdvisor’s rise in brand equity may have also stemmed from talk of a potential company sale. In Q1, TripAdvisor formed a committee to evaluate potential offers. This news led to a 25% increase in TripAdvisor’s stock price from February into March. While no serious buyers materialized in Q1, a purchase could boost the amount of cash that the company has on-hand, sparking more technological development in the years ahead.

What About Younger Consumers?

While TripAdvisor experienced significant brand equity gains among Baby Boomers from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, we predict that younger consumers’ interest in TripAdvisor will increase in the near future.

TripAdvisor announced that they are launching a metaverse experience later this year that encourages consumers to virtually experience a location before they decide to book a trip.

“Traveling around the world or traveling in your backyard or traveling across the country, whatever it might be, is one of the most expensive things that you can purchase without actually trying it beforehand.” – Adam Ochman, TripAdvisor’s Global Director of Marketing Solutions

This “try before you buy” approach could be especially beneficial for Gen Z and Millennial travelers who typically have fewer resources to travel than older Americans. 

What do you think? Would you be interested in virtually visiting the Egyptian pyramids before booking a tour IRL?