The Impact of Airline Short Video Marketing on Air Passenger Volume: Evidence From Chinese Aviation Market

With the widespread adoption of short videos on social media platforms, airlines have increasingly leveraged them as key tools for digital marketing. However, systematic research on their impact on consumers' actual travel behaviour remains limited. This study investigates the effect of short video marketing on civil aviation passenger volume based on monthly panel data from 10 major Chinese airlines between January 2023 and December 2024. The empirical results show that short video marketing significantly increases economy class passenger volume, with improvements in video quality and posting frequency both exerting positive effects. Moreover, stronger marginal effects are observed in the international market and among low‐cost carriers (LCCs). In contrast, business class passengers and full‐service carriers (FSCs) passengers exhibit weaker responsiveness to short video marketing, suggesting that short videos are more effective for leisure and price‐sensitive consumer groups. This study enriches the empirical research on digital marketing in the air travel sector and provides practical insights for airlines to develop differentiated short video strategies.