The Use of Photographs on Consumer Generated Content Websites

Abstract

Word-of-mouth is an important source of information for tourists making decisions about what destinations to visit. Word-of-mouth has a strong influence on shaping the image of a destination, particularly for remote destinations which are in part characterised by limited market penetration in terms of more formal marketing communications. There has been some research situating consumer generated content in Web 2.0 applications as word-of-mouth that has the potential to influence destination images for some destinations and among some markets. Less attention has been paid to consumer generated photographs although photographs and other non-text media are becoming increasingly pervasive on Web 2.0 websites. This chapter argues that photographs make a substantial contribution to word-of-mouth exchange online, and that there is a need for tools to help destinations interpret photographic content. Mapping photographs to Echtner and Ritchie’s (1993) destination image framework is one approach that shows some promise as it allows for comparison between the images projected by marketing bodies and consumers.

Notice of Violation of IEEE Publication Principles: A Big Data Framework to Identify Tourist Interests Based on Geotagged Travel Photos

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Influence of users’ psychosocial traits on Facebook travel–related behavior patterns

“…A study by Lo et al (2011) reveals that 89% of pleasure travelers take photographs and that 41% of them post their photographs online. SNSs, such as FB, have made personal travel photos visible to the public (Boyd, 2008; Miller and Edwards, 2007; Qian and Scott, 2007), expanding the potential audience beyond family and friends to new people living worldwide (Goodman, 2007; Schmallegger et al, 2010). These result in a larger number of people see personal travel photos or videos, and read personal posts and statuses about travel destination.…”

Examining Sojourners as Visual Influencers in VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) Tourism: A Rhetorical Analysis of User-Generated Images

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