how instagram influences visual destination image - a case study of jordan and costa rica

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How Instagram influences Visual Destination Image – a case study of

Jordan and Costa RicaLyndon Nixon, Anastasia Popova and Irem Önder

MODUL University Vienna, Austrialyndon.nixon@modul.ac.at

http://www.modul.ac.at/user/Nixon/

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Instagram and DMOs

http://contevo.com.au/instagram-advertising-and-demographics-what-you-need-to-know/

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Visual Destination Image (VDI)

• Destination Image is a significant factor in travellers‘ choices

• Visual Destination Image is the image formed through exposure to visual media

• Social media eases exposure to destination imagery

• Research has looked at defining image but not means to positively change image

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Case study: Jordan and Costa Rica

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Case study: Jordan and Costa Rica

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Characteristics of VDICategory Cognitive dimensions Affective

dimensions

Nature Mountains, coastline, desert, jungle, fauna

Relaxing, adventurous, picturesque

Culture Architecture, urbanity, cultural heritage, religious life, arts & crafts

Mystical, ancient, inspirational

Food and Drink Fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, beverages

Tasty, healthy, local speciality

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Our experiment

• 3 groups of 7 participants, 18-27yo, female 52% male 48%, 2/3 were students

• Each group focused on one category. Prior destination image: 9 question 5-item Likert scale survey on all dimensions

• Photos shown with speak-aloud method, repeat survey for post-photo change in destination image, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test (p=0.05)

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Results - Nature

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Results – Culture

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Results – Food & Drink

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Results - summary

Nature Culture Food and Drink

Jordan 3.35 3.6 3.13

Costa Rica 3.75 2.79 3.86

Mean values for prior destination image

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Explaining the results• Costa Rica has a strong, reinforced

destination image in the nature category– Appeared less able to positively influence

image in another category

• Jordan has a more balanced image and could positively influence weaker categories– Less prior reinforcement means greater

perceptivity to new image

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Suggestions / next steps

• DMO should not over-market a single characteristic of the destination– A mix of online visual marketing can work well for

promoting a multifaceted destination image

• We welcome further studies– Use of other visual media and other destinations to

better understand how DMOs can best influence VDI with the right mix of visual content

– Contact Lyndon Nixon (lyndon.nixon@modul.ac.at)