The role of photograph aesthetics on online review sites: Effects of management- versus traveler-generated photos on tourists’ decision-making
The role of photograph aesthetics on online review sites: Effects of management- versus traveler-generated photos on tourists’ decision-making
Tourists searching for information about destinations on online review sites are concurrently exposed to two different photograph aesthetics, professional (produced by destination managers) and amateur (generated by travelers). While the former is glossy and sharp, the latter is often grainy and overexposed. Although aesthetics are important factors in tourist decision making, the effects of the exposure to both types of photograph aesthetics remain largely unexamined. This research investigates how both types of aesthetics, either singularly or in combination, affect a destination’s visual appeal and tourists’ booking intentions through four controlled experiments (N = 1,282). Our results show that despite the “messy” beauty in amateur aesthetics, photos with professional aesthetics make a depicted destination appear more visually appealing, ultimately driving booking intentions. However, the negative effects of amateur aesthetics are mitigated when (1) viewed by risk-averse tourists, (2) presented alongside positive reviews, and (3) accompanied by a greater number of professional photos.
aesthetics, online photography, review sites, social media, user-generated content
31-46
Marder, Ben
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Erz, Antonia
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Angell, Robert
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Plangger, Kirk
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1 January 2021
Marder, Ben
6c556d4a-af17-4625-b03b-fe84159fdf2d
Erz, Antonia
f0fa9fc3-2a65-4efb-94c9-e04b33554130
Angell, Robert
ca8389e4-2a83-43a8-b331-c262eda37674
Plangger, Kirk
a6b1307b-36dd-48da-a9c0-acd3ec4604c2
Marder, Ben, Erz, Antonia, Angell, Robert and Plangger, Kirk
(2021)
The role of photograph aesthetics on online review sites: Effects of management- versus traveler-generated photos on tourists’ decision-making.
Journal of Travel Research, 60 (1), .
(doi:10.1177/0047287519895125).
Abstract
Tourists searching for information about destinations on online review sites are concurrently exposed to two different photograph aesthetics, professional (produced by destination managers) and amateur (generated by travelers). While the former is glossy and sharp, the latter is often grainy and overexposed. Although aesthetics are important factors in tourist decision making, the effects of the exposure to both types of photograph aesthetics remain largely unexamined. This research investigates how both types of aesthetics, either singularly or in combination, affect a destination’s visual appeal and tourists’ booking intentions through four controlled experiments (N = 1,282). Our results show that despite the “messy” beauty in amateur aesthetics, photos with professional aesthetics make a depicted destination appear more visually appealing, ultimately driving booking intentions. However, the negative effects of amateur aesthetics are mitigated when (1) viewed by risk-averse tourists, (2) presented alongside positive reviews, and (3) accompanied by a greater number of professional photos.
Text
The role of photograph aesthetics on online review sites
- Accepted Manuscript
Available under License Other.
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 13 November 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 30 December 2019
Published date: 1 January 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We wholeheartedly thank Catherine Hedler for her expert wizardry in assisting with the development of our controlled stimuli in Photoshop. Furthermore, we would like to thank Elena Osadchaya, whose complaint about guest photographs detracting from the appeal of hotels helped spark the underlying idea of this research. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
Keywords:
aesthetics, online photography, review sites, social media, user-generated content
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 437165
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/437165
PURE UUID: 9fe39e05-c7cb-4d79-82f1-6fb0677409fd
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Date deposited: 20 Jan 2020 17:33
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:54
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Author:
Ben Marder
Author:
Antonia Erz
Author:
Kirk Plangger
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