Social media marketers sharing photos of people vacationing in exotic locales or attending events at exclusive venues may actually be driving new customers away, according to a recently published Tulane University study.
The study analyzed more than 14,000 Instagram travel photos from a top influencer and conducted a series of experiments that asked viewers to choose between venues with or without another person in the photo.
Across a diverse range of destination venues, the authors consistently found that the presence of others in the photo of a place for special or once-in-a-lifetime events lowered viewers’ liking and preference for the venue. “When it’s an experience closely tied to self-identity, like vacations or weddings, people want to feel personal ownership over the venue,” the authors explained.
The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, is the first to investigate the impact of human presence in shared photos through the lens of what is known as “psychological ownership,” that is, the feeling that something belongs to an individual even when they do not have legal ownership of it.
For instance, students in a classroom may feel “this is MY seat,” or fans may feel a franchise is “MY team.” Similarly, married couples may feel “this is OUR wedding venue” when it’s only a space that hosts their ceremony or reception. According to researchers, consumers often construct and communicate their identity through such ownership.
2023-10-17 19:00:04
Original from phys.org
