The Mediating Effect of Photo-taking Involvement on
Photo Sharing and Travel Engagement and Enjoyment
Yong-Yi Wang
＜Abstract＞
Previous research has found that taking photos during travel for the purpose of sharing with others via SNS (social
networking sites) induces self-presentational concerns and decreases consumer engagement and enjoyment. However,they tended to use a narrow definition of consumer engagement and enjoyment. While some travelers are reluctant
photo takers, others place great importance on photo taking. Hence, immersion in taking and sharing photos as animportant aspect of the travel experience as a whole for the former travelers should be considered a positive form of
consumer engagement. To address these deficiencies, this research explores the possibility of taking photos canincrease consumer engagement and enjoyment by identifying three moderating factors of the causal relationships
between them: (1) the level of photo-taking involvement, (2) the existence of a photo-sharing task, and (3) thephoto-sharing opponents.
＜Keywords＞
Travel experience, Hospitality, Photo-taking involvement, SNS, Consumer engagement, Consumer enjoyment

Introduction
The activities of sightseeing and tasting local foods bring enjoyment to travelers. It has been foundthat such enjoyment is heightened if the traveler is accompanied by companions (cf. Lambert, Gwinn,
Baumeister, Strachman, Washburn, Gable and Fincham 2013). Intuitively, the actual presence of a travelcompanion may not be necessary. The sharing of sightseeing photos and travel stories via social
networking sites (SNS) may also serve to enhance travelers’ enjoyment (cf. Dehl, Zauberman, and Brasch2016). Despite the potential positive effect of taking photos to share upon travel enjoyment, the latest
research found that taking photos with a goal to share induces self-presentational concern and generates
disutility, which decreases engagement and enjoyment in turn (Brasch, Zauberman, and Diehl 2018).
Previous studies tended to use a narrow definition of travel engagement and enjoyment limited tosightseeing and local foods tasting experiences. However, in the real world, there are some travelers
regarding photo taking and sharing as more important and enjoyable than sightseeing and local foods
tasting activities and, as such they may be more inclined to engage in taking and sharing photos instead ofsightseeing and local foods tasting. Hence, immersion in taking and sharing photos as an important aspectof the travel experience for those travelers should also be considered a positive form of engagement. The
engagement in taking and sharing photos with a positive feeling could enhance enjoyment of the travel1experience as a whole.
To bridge the gap between previous research and the actual behavior of travelers mentioned above,
this research explores the possibility of taking photos can increase consumer engagement and enjoyment
by identifying the moderating factors of the causal relationships between them.
We conduct three empirical studies to examine the following three moderating factors: (1) the level ofphoto-taking involvement, (2) the existence of the photo-sharing task, and (3) the photo-sharing opponents.
And the results of these studies indicate that the photo-taking task decreases consumer engagement andenjoyment only in the case of low-involvement. Taking photos increases consumer engagement and, inturn, increases consumer enjoyment among consumers with a high level of photo-taking involvement.
Furthermore, we examine the effects of photo-sharing tasks. We compare consumers who take photos
and share them via SNS with those who take photos for self-viewing only in terms of the effects of thephoto-taking task on consumer engagement and enjoyment. Additionally, we compare consumers who takephotos and share them with close friends to those who take photos and share them only withacquaintances.
By identifying the conditions under which the photo-taking task enhances/reduces consumer
engagement and enjoyment, this research provides important implications for practitioners regarding how
to manage photo-taking behavior to enhance the consumer experience.

Literature Review
Hedonic experience is a fundamental aspect of people’s lives and their well-being. One of the main
reasons for this is that the experiences are often shared with others and, thus, they contribute to the valueand happiness that people derive from their social relationships (Leary and Baumeister 2000). In recent
years, experience has been widely shared with others not only through written and verbal communication
but also through photos shared via SNS (cf. Diehl, et al. 2016). Therefore, a better understanding of factorsthat can influence the enjoyment of experiences is important both to consumers who look for happinessand to the companies that create and market such experiences (cf. Diehl et al. 2016).
Recently, the availability of phone with high-quality camera has transformed the way that people
share their experience with others. Photo sharing has become a daily and prevalent activity for millions ofpeople. Therefore, increasing numbers of studies have examined the effects of the photo-taking task on
consumer engagement in and enjoyment of the experience. Previous studies have contended that phototaking increases engagement because it requires attention being directed toward the experience that theperson wishes to capture, and then it focuses attention on the positive aspects of the experience (Dehl et al.
2016). Early studies have also demonstrated that photo taking enhances enjoyment across a broad range ofexperiences (e.g., bus tours, meals, museum visits), and they identified engagement as a relevant processthat influences whether photo taking increase or decrease enjoyment (Csikszentmihalyi 1997; Higgins

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2006).
In contrast, the latest research has found that compared to taking photos to preserve one’s memories,
taking photos with the intention to share them with others is more than likely to trigger self-presentational
concern and thus decrease engagement in and enjoyment of positive experiences (Brasch et al. 2018).
However, previous research has tended to use a narrow definition of consumer engagement and enjoyment
limited to sightseeing and local foods tasting experiences.

Study 1: Photo-taking involvement as a moderating factor
Hypotheses
Study 1 was designed to examine the level of photo-taking involvement as a moderating factor.
Previous research has contended that photo taking decreases consumer engagement and enjoyment,
particularly in the case of consumers with the goal to share the photos via SNS. In the experiment,
participants were asked to watch a sightseeing video and take share-worthy photos by capturing scenes
from the video. The results showed that the levels of engagement and enjoyment perceived by thoseparticipants with the goal to share the taken photo were lower than those perceived by those participants
who were taking photos only for self-viewing (Brasch et al. 2018). These findings can be explained basedon the Information Processing Theory (Bettman 1979) as follows, due to limitations on motivations and/or
abilities for processing information, engaging in taking photos consumes a considerable amount of thecompetence for information processing for the travel experience as a whole. Thus, the participants in theexperiment reported that they enjoyed the sightseeing video less because the video-watching (virtualsightseeing) task was interrupted by the photo-taking task. However, consumers in the real world rate thewhole travel experience including sightseeing and taking photos. Hence, the laboratory experimentconducted by previous research has failed to measure accurately the degrees of consumer engagement andenjoyment.
Some consumers in the real world are more involved in taking photos than in sightseeing. Suchhighly-involved photo-taking consumers might find it difficult to engage in and enjoy the experience if
photo taking were prohibited. The difference between the participants in previous research and suchconsumers lies in their level of photo-taking involvement, i.e., the level of importance that they give totaking photos. If photo taking is regarded as less important and even troublesome, then it decreases
consumer engagement and enjoyment. In contrast, if photo taking is regarded as important and pleasurable,
then the task promotes consumer engagement and enjoyment. Thus, we have proposed Hypotheses 1a and1b as follows:
H1: Unlike consumers who do not regard photo taking as an important aspect of experiences, consumers
who regard photo taking as important are more likely to (a) engage in and (b) enjoy the experience if they
face a photo-taking task than if they face no photo-taking task.

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Methods
A total of sixty-five university students (55% female; Mage=21) at a university participated in theexperiment. Like previous research (Brasch et al. 2018), all participants were exposed to a three-minutevideo of a walking tour through Rome and were asked to imagine that they were actually there,
participating in the tour. While they were watching the video, all participants were asked to take photos.
We used a 2 (photo-taking involvement: high vs. low) × 2 (photo-taking task: yes vs. no)experimental design. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups as follows: (1) sixteen
participants were asked to imagine that they found it important in their life to take photos (involvement:high) and, therefore, took photos during the experience (task: yes); (2) sixteen participants were asked toimagine that they found it important in their life to take photos (involvement: high), but they were not able
to take photos during this particular experience; (3) sixteen participants were asked to imagine that they
did not regard photos taking as important in their life (involvement: low), but they were obliged to takesome photos because their “friends” expected them to do so; and (4) seventeen participants were asked toimagine that they did not regard photos taking as important in their life (involvement: low), and they did
not take photos this time even if their “friends” expected them to do so.
Immediately after watching the video, participants were asked to answer two items on enjoyment and
two items on engagement. All items were utilized from previous research (Brasch et al. 2018). The resultsof the manipulation check indicated that participants in Groups (1) and (2) regarded photo-taking asimportant and joyful (M=6.51, SD=0.84), while participants in Groups (3) and (4) regarded photo-taking
as less important and troublesome (M=2.33, SD=0.69, t=-21.99, p=0.01). In addition, all participants inGroups (1) and (3) took ten pieces of photos in average and, thus, there were no participants to be
excluded from the sample data-set.

Results
The results of the analysis are shown in Fig. 1.
Figure 1. The Results of Study 1

ENJOYMENTENGAGEMENT
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

6.10
5.94

6.68
3.70

Photo-Taking Task

Without Photo-Taking
Task

Involvement: High

Involvement: Low

4

7
6
5
4
3
2
1

6.20
6.17

6.84
3.44

Photo-Taking Task

Without Photo-Taking
Task

Involvement: High

Involvement: Low

Engagement. Consistent with our predictions, a two-way ANOVA test revealed an interaction effectof photo-taking involvement and the existence of the photo-taking direction to consumer engagement in
the travel experience as a whole (F=26.37, p<0.01). The simple main effect of the photo-taking task in thecase that the task was regarded as important was significant (F=67.72, p<0.01). Participants who regarded
the photo-taking task as important were more likely to engage in the travel experience if they faced thephoto-taking task than if there were no photo-taking task. The simple main effect of the photo-taking task
in case that the photo-taking task was not regarded as important was insignificant (F=1.17, p>0.01). Thus,
Hypothesis 1a is supported.
Enjoyment. There was the interaction effect of photo-taking involvement and the existence of thephoto-taking task not only on engagement, but also on enjoyment of the travel experience as a whole(F=40.89, p<0.01). The simple main effect of the photo-taking task in the case that the task was regarded
as important was significant (F=16.7, p<0.01). Participants who regarded the photo-taking task asimportant were more likely to enjoy the travel experience if they faced the photo-taking task than if there
were no photo-taking task. The simple main effect of photo-taking task in the case that photo taking is notregarded as important was not significant (F=2.1, p>0.10). Thus, Hypothesis 1b is supported.

Study 2: Photo sharing as a photo taking goal
Hypotheses
Study 2 was designed to examine the existence of the photo-sharing task as a moderating factor.
Previous research has also argued that the extent to which the photo-taking task reduces consumer
engagement and enjoyment depends on whether the photo-taking goal is to share them via SNS or whether
they were intended only for self-viewing. According to Brasch et al. (2018), the photo-taking task is more
likely to decrease engagement and enjoyment when the photo-taking goal is to share than when it is they
are intended only or self-viewing.
However, as mentioned above, previous research has only assumed that consumers who regard phototaking as a less important and a bothersome task would engage in and enjoy the experience less if thephoto-taking goal is to share. As for consumers who regard photo taking as important and pleasurable, thelevels of engagement and enjoyment would be high when there is a photo-taking task and the photo-taking
goal is to share them. Thus, we propose the following hypotheses.
H2: Unlike consumers who do not regard photo taking as an important aspect of experience, consumers
who regard photo taking as important are less likely to (a) engage in and (b) enjoy the experience if they
face a photo-sharing task than if they take photos solely for the purpose of self-viewing.

Methods

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Study 2 was designed to examine the existence of the photo-sharing task as a moderating factor. We
used a 2 (photo-taking involvement: high vs. low) × 2 (photo-sharing task: yes vs. no) experimental design.
A total of one hundred fifty six university students (55% female: Mage = 21) were randomly assigned to
one of four groups, (1) thirty-nine students were asked to imagine that they found it important in their life
to take photos (involvement: high) and, therefore, took photos during the experience and share them via
SNS (task: yes); (2) thirty-nine students were asked to imagine that they found it important in their life totake photos (involvement: high) and took photos during the experience for self-viewing but not to sharethem with their “friends” via SNS (task: no); (3) thirty-nine students were asked to imagine that they did
not regard photo taking as important in their life (involvement: low), but they took and shared some photos
because their “friends” expected them to do so (task: yes); and (4) thirty-nine students were asked toimagine that they did not regard photo taking as important in their life (involvement: low), and they took
some photos, but they did not share them even if their “friends” expected them to do so.
The participants received the same photo-taking involvement instructions as in Study 1. Thoseparticipants in the no-photo-sharing groups were asked to take photos using their cellphone camera for the
self-viewing purpose, while those participants in the photo-sharing group received instructions to takephotos using their cellphone camera and imagine that they were taking the photos for sharing via SNS.
The results of the manipulation check indicated that participants in Groups (1) and (2) regarded phototaking as important and joyful (M=6.71, SD=0.84), while participants in Groups (3) and (4) regarded phototaking as less important and troublesome (M=2.5, SD=0.35, t=-19, p=0.01). In addition, all participants inGroups (1) and (3) took ten pieces of photos in average and thus, there were no participants to be excluded
from the sample data.

Results
The results of the analysis are shown in Fig. 2.
Figure 2. The Results of Study 2

ENJOYMENTENGAGEMENT
7
6

5.58

5

6.10

7

5.94

5

6
4

4
3
2
1

3

3.67

6.11

6.20
6.17

4.50

2

Photo-Sharing Task

Without Photo-Sharing
Task

Involvement: High

Involvement: Low

6

1

Photo-Sharing Task

Without Photo-Sharing
Task

Involvement: High

Involvement: Low

Engagement. Consistent with our predictions, a two-way ANOVA test revealed an interaction effectof photo-taking involvement and the existence of the photo-taking direction to consumer engagement in
the travel experience as a whole (F=16.12, p<0.01). The simple main effect of the photo-sharing task in thecase that photo taking was regarded as important was significant (F=21.1, p<0.01). Participants who
regarded photo taking as important were more likely to engage in the travel experience if they took photos
only for self-viewing than if they faced a photo-sharing task. The simple main effect of the photo-taking
task in the case that the photo-taking task was not regarded as important was insignificant (F=1.12,
p>0.01). Thus, Hypothesis 2a is supported.
Enjoyment. A two-way ANOVA test revealed an interaction effect of photo-taking involvement andthe existence of the photo-sharing task to consumer engagement in the travel experience as a whole(F=14.51, p<0.01). The simple main effect of the photo-sharing task in the case that the task was regarded
as important was significant (F=30.96, p<0.01). Participants who regarded the photo-taking task asimportant were more likely to enjoy the travel experience as a whole if they took photos only for
self-viewing than if they faced the photo-sharing task. The simple main effect of the photo-sharing task inthe case that the photo-taking task was not regarded as important was insignificant (F=1.2, p>0.01). Thus,
Hypothesis 2b is supported.

Study 3: Photo-taking involvement and photo-sharing audience
Hypotheses
Study 3 was designed to examine the opponents of photo-sharing audience as a moderating factor.
Based on the Impression Management Theory (Baumeister and Jones 1978; Leary, Nezlek, Downs,
Radford-Davenport, Martin and McMullen 1994), consumers are less likely to manage their impressions if
the opponents of photo-sharing audience are made up of close friends because close friends have alreadyformed impressions of the consumers. In contrast, consumers are more likely to manage their impressions
if the opponents of photo-sharing audience are made up of acquaintances because impression management
is more effective in this context. Given that impression management is important for the consumer, it canaffect the level of engagement in the travel experience and, thus, the level of enjoyment (Leary et al.
1994).
Thus, we proposed the following hypothesis:
H3: Both consumers who do not regard photo taking as an important aspect of experiences and consumers
who regard photo taking as important are more likely to (a) engage in and (b) enjoy the experience if theyshould share the photos with close friends than if they should share them with acquaintances via SNS.

Methods
We used a 2 (photo-taking involvement: high vs. low) × 2 (audience of photo-sharing: close friends

7vs. acquaintances) experimental design. A total of one hundred and fifty six university students (55%female: Mage = 21) were randomly assigned to one of four groups, as follows (1) thirty-nine students wereasked to imagine that they found it important in their life to take photos (involvement: high) and, therefore,
took photos during the experience and shared them with close friends (photo-sharing audience: closefriends); (2) thirty-nine students were asked to imagine that they found it important in their life to takephotos (involvement: high) and took photos during the experience and shared them with all of their“friends” via SNS (audience: acquaintances); (3) thirty-nine students were asked to imagine that they did
not regard photo taking as important in their life (involvement: low), but they took and shared some photos
with their “close friends” because their “close friends” expected them to do so (audience: close friends);
and (4) thirty-nine students were asked to imagine that they did not regard photo taking as important intheir life (involvement: low), but they took photos and shared them with all of their “friends” via SNS
because their “friends” expected them to do so (audience: acquaintances). Participants also received thesame photo-taking involvement instructions as in Study 1 and Study 2.
The results of the manipulation check indicated that participants in Groups (1) and (2) regarded phototaking as important and joyful (M=6.72, SD=0.73), while participants in Groups (3) and (4) regarded phototaking as less important and troublesome (M=2.4, SD=0.35, t=-19, p=0.01). In addition, all participants inall of the Groups took ten pieces of photos in average and thus, there were no participants to be excluded
from the sample data.

Results
The results of the analysis are shown in Fig. 3.
Figure 3. The Results of Study 3

ENJOYMENTENGAGEMENT
7
6

5.60

7

5.56

6

5

5

4

4

3

4.16

1

Involvement: High

3.84
2.25

2
1

Sharing with CloseFriends

5.20

3

3.21

2

6.13

Sharing withAcquaintances
Involvement: Low

8

Sharing with CloseFriends
Involvement: High

Sharing withAcquaintances
Involvement: Low

Engagement. A two-way ANOVA revealed an interaction effect of photo-taking involvement and thephoto-sharing task on engagement in the travel experience as a whole (F=12.13, p<0.01). The simple main
effect of photo-sharing in the case that taking photos was regarded as important was significant (F=5.12,
p<0.05). Participants who regarded photo taking as important were more likely to engage in the travel
experience if they shared the photos via SNS with close friends than if they shared them withacquaintances. The simple main effect of photo-sharing task in case that photo taking was regarded as
unimportant was also significant (F=7.81, p<0.01). Thus, hypothesis 3a is supported.
Enjoyment. There was also an interaction effect of photo-taking involvement and the photo-sharing
task on enjoyment of the travel experience as a whole (F=35.19, p<0.01). The simple main effect ofphoto-sharing task in the case that taking photos was regarded as important was significant (F=16.71,
p<0.01). Participants who regarded taking photos as important were more likely to enjoy the travel
experience if they shared the photos with close friends than if they shared them with acquaintances via
SNS. The simple main effect of photo-sharing task in the case that taking photos was regarded as
unimportant was also significant (F=12.43, p<0.01). Thus, Hypothesis 3b is supported.

General Discussion
Theoretical Contributions and Managerial Implications
This paper proposed and tested a set of hypotheses describing both positive and negative relationships
between the photo-taking task and consumer engagement and enjoyment with the following factors as
moderators of the relationships: (1) the level of photo-taking involvement, (2) presence of a photo-sharingtask, and (3) the photo-sharing audience. The results of our experiments showed that, in agreement withprevious studies, taking photos had a negative impact on engagement in and enjoyment of the travel
experience if the consumer had low involvement in taking photos or, in other words, he/she regarded
taking photos as a bothersome obligation. However, if the consumer was highly involved in taking photos
during the experiences, taking photos had positive impacts on consumer engagement and enjoyment.
Moreover, positive impacts of taking photos on engagement and enjoyment was increased by photosharing, particularly by photo sharing with close friends as opposed to acquaintances.
Previous research has implied that travel agencies and travel destination managers should beconcerned that travelers’ photo-taking behavior might decrease engagement in and enjoyment of the travel
experience with the burgeoning popularity of SNS. However, based on the findings of the present study,
this is true only for travelers with a low level of involvement in taking photos. Travel agencies and travel
destination managers should provide travelers who are highly involved in photo taking during their travel
experiences with more opportunities for taking better photos, e.g., by suggesting the best places for taking
photos. With regard to travelers with a low level of involvement in taking photos, ways to make it easierfor them to perform their “duty” to take photos should be provided (e.g., providing a “safe haven” zone9

where taking photos is prohibited) so that these travelers can concentrate on activities such as sightseeing
and tasting local foods. Additionally, travel marketers should encourage travelers to be more involved intaking photos by sharing their photos, particularly with their family and close friends to increase consumer
engagement and enjoyment.
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