Differences between tourists in photographing and photo-sharing behaviours have been under-researched. We examined the influence of geographic origin and travel group composition on tourist photographing and sharing. Questionnaires were used to measure photographing and sharing frequency, while participant observation afforded a deeper examination of sharing processes. Findings showed differences in photography behaviour between solo and accompanied tourists. Tourists from some continents also took and shared photographs more frequently. Observations uncovered processes connecting sharing, photographing, and content of photographs. As user-generated content becomes increasingly influential in tourism management, attention to origin, group composition and other individual differences can help engage tourists in photographing and sharing.
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Reputation has often been proposed as the central mechanism that creates trust in the sharing economy. However, some sharing platforms that focus primarily on social rather than economically driven exchanges have managed to facilitate exchanges between users without the use of a reputation system. This could indicate that socially driven exchanges are in less need of reputation systems and that having sufficient trust is less problematic. We examine the effect of seller reputation on sales and price as proxies for trust, using a large dataset from a Dutch meal-sharing platform. This platform aims to stimulate social interactions between people via meal sharing. Multilevel regression analyses were used to test the association of reputation with trust. Our main empirical results are that reputation affects both sales and price positively, consistent with the existing reputation literature. We also found evidence of the presence of an information effect, i.e., the influence of reputation on sharing decreases when additional profile information is provided (e.g., a profile photo, a product description). Our results thus confirm the effectiveness of reputation in more socially driven exchanges also. Consequently, platform owners are advised to use reputation on their platform to increase sharing between its users.
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Getting students to reflect critically is considered hard to achieve. This should be addressed because critical reflection is crucial for students to prepare for their professional lives in a complex world. We examined the research method Photovoice to raise critical reflection in students. Traditionally, this is achieved in a social, reflective process of discussing self-made photos. However, the process of taking photos is performed individually, therefore not fully contributing to critical reflection. In the research presented here, mobile technologies were used in Photovoice assignments to turn photo taking into a social, reflective process of taking and sharing. Students’ general attitude towards this approach was examined, as well as towards specific aspects related to anonymity and influence of and on peers.
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