Communication Theory of Aviasales

Aviasales is a travel metasearch service that helps users find and compare cheap flight tickets. The brand does not sell tickets directly: instead, it checks offers from airlines and ticket agencies and redirects users to the best available options.

This makes Aviasales a mediator between the consumer and the travel market.

Aviasales positions itself as a simple, fast, and money-saving service for independent travelers. Its core promise is not luxury or premium travel, but access to affordable mobility.

The main positioning idea can be summarized as:

This positioning is visible in the brand’s product functions: flexible filters, baggage options, low-price calendar, low-price map, and notifications when ticket prices change.

Brand Personality

Aviasales communicates in a bold, humorous, informal, and culturally relevant tone. The brand does not speak like a traditional travel agency. Instead, it behaves like a witty digital friend who understands the everyday problems of travelers. Its tone combines:

Practical usefulness + humor + speed + cultural awareness.

This combination helps the brand stand out in a competitive market where many services offer similar technical functions.

Target Audience

According to the Aviasales media kit, the brand’s core audience is people aged 25–45, with women making up around 50% of the audience. The service reports around 20 million monthly unique users, 200 million monthly searches, and 5.1 million social media followers.

Audience Needs

They want to save money, compare prices, avoid complicated booking processes, receive price-drop notifications, and find travel inspiration.

At the emotional level, the audience wants freedom, spontaneity, escape from routine, and the feeling that travel is possible even with a limited budget.

Aviasales uses a multi-channel communication strategy. Its official media kit lists several major platforms, including VK, Telegram, X, TikTok, Zen, YouTube, Odnoklassniki, and its own travel journal.

This means that Aviasales does not rely only on the website or app. It builds a full communication ecosystem around travel, humor, useful information, and brand entertainment.

Website as the Main Communication Channel

Functionally, it allows users to search for flights, compare options, use filters, and find better prices. Persuasively, it communicates simplicity and control: the user feels that the complicated process of finding tickets becomes easier.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model, developed by Richard Petty and John Cacioppo, explains how persuasive messages influence people. The model focuses on cognitive processing and shows that people do not always process advertising messages in the same way. According to ELM, persuasion can happen through two main routes: the central route
and the peripheral route
.

ELM is especially suitable for analyzing Aviasales because the brand uses both rational and emotional persuasion.

Central Route

The central route is activated when the user is highly motivated and able to process information. For Aviasales, this happens when a person really needs to buy a ticket. The user compares prices, studies filters, checks baggage rules, looks at dates, and evaluates whether the service gives a better deal.

In this case, persuasion is based on strong arguments: price, convenience, comparison, transparency, and useful tools.

Peripheral Route

The peripheral route is activated when the user is not ready to think deeply or does not have an immediate need to buy a ticket. For Aviasales, this often happens on social media. A user may see a meme, joke, funny post, or visual campaign without planning to travel right now.

The message still works because it creates a positive emotional association with the brand.

Central Route in the Website Interface

The Aviasales website activates central-route processing because users come there with a specific goal: to find a flight.

The search bar asks users to enter departure city, destination, dates, and number of passengers. This structure encourages active thinking and comparison.