The growing competition for Airbnb properties is making their visual appeal increasingly important. Drawing from the elaboration likelihood model theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of Airbnb cover photo shot-scale presentation on consumer decisions (i.e., click-through and booking intention). Four experiments were conducted focusing on consumers’ click-through and booking intentions with different experimental stimuli. In particular, the results of Study 1 (N = 239) demonstrated the interaction effect of shot-scale presentation and regulatory focus, showing that consumers’ promotion focus (vs prevention focus) increases their click-through and booking intentions for panoramic (vs close-range) cover photo. Study 2 (N = 176) replicated the findings of Study 1 by manipulating consumers’ regulatory focus as a state. Study 3 (N = 201) revealed the mediation role of the depth of information processing between the interaction effect and consumers’ click-through and booking intentions. Study 4 (N=260) further conducted a robustness check to confirm the reliability of the findings. This research bridges photography and hospitality visual marketing literature, enriches theories on visual persuasion and marketing, and offers hosts and platform suggestions on how to use shot-scale to facilitate consumers’ decisions.
AguirreEMahrDGrewalD, et al. (2015) Unraveling the personalization paradox: the effect of information collection and trust-building strategies on online advertisement effectiveness. Journal of Retailing91(1): 34–49.
2.
BaldickHJJangS (2020) Spending the night with strangers while traveling? Examining the antecedents of shared room booking through Airbnb. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management32(12): 3853–3871.
3.
BálintKEBlessingJNRooneyB (2020) Shot scale matters: the effect of close-up frequency on mental state attribution in film viewers. Poetics83: 101480.
4.
BanerjeeSLensMPalA (2022) Put on your sunglasses and smile: the secret of Airbnb hosts’ profile photos?International Journal of Hospitality Management103: 103219.
5.
BufquinDParkJYBackRM, et al. (2020) Effects of hotel website photographs and length of textual descriptions on viewers’ emotions and behavioral intentions. International Journal of Hospitality Management87: 102378.
6.
ChanICCChenZLeungD (2023) The more the better? Strategizing visual elements in social media marketing. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management54: 268–289.
7.
ChengJHeXWenJ, et al. (2024) How does spatial distance to travel companions transform to temporal distance in travel purchase decisions?Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management60: 166–176.
8.
CheungGWCooper-ThomasHDLauRS, et al. (2021) Testing moderation in business and psychological studies with latent moderated structural equations. Journal of Business and Psychology36: 1009–1033.
9.
Chu XYChang CTLee AY (2021) Values created from far and near: influence of spatial distance on brand evaluation. Journal of Marketing85(6): 162–175.
10.
Dang-VanTVo-ThanhTWangJ, et al. (2023) Green hotel practices and consumer revisit intention: a mediating model of consumer promotion focus, brand identification, and green consumption value. Journal of Vacation Marketing30(4): 677–693.
11.
de ZúñigaHGBorahPGoyanesM (2021) How do people learn about politics when inadvertently exposed to news? Incidental news paradoxical direct and indirect effects on political knowledge. Computers in Human Behavior121: 106803.
12.
DharaRMDawraJRishiB (2024) From trait to choice: how regulatory focus shapes store promotion usage. Journal of Promotion Management30(5): 842–873.
13.
FuJRLuIWChenJH, et al. (2020) Investigating consumers’ online social shopping intention: an information processing perspective. International Journal of Information Management54: 102189.
14.
GodovykhMBakerC (2022) Hospitality art: a research note on the main factors affecting attractiveness of visual art in airbnb settings. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management51: 401–405.
15.
GursoyD (2019) A critical review of determinants of information search behavior and utilization of online reviews in decision making process. International Journal of Hospitality Management76: 53–60.
16.
HanTYBiJWWeiZH, et al. (2024) Visual cues and consumer’s booking intention in P2P accommodation: exploring the role of social and emotional signals from hosts’ profile photos. Tourism Management102: 104884.
17.
HawsKLDholakiaUMBeardenWO (2010) An assessment of chronic regulatory focus measures. Journal of Marketing Research47(5): 967–982.
HornerKA (2018) The art of advertising happiness: agnès Varda’s Le Bonheur and pop art. Studies in French Cinema18(2): 133–155.
20.
HouLPanX (2023) Aesthetics of hotel photos and its impact on consumer engagement: a computer vision approach. Tourism Management94: 104653.
21.
HuMLinLLiuM, et al. (2024) Images’ features and Airbnb listing price: the mediation effect of visual aesthetic perception. Tourism Review79(5): 1182–1195.
22.
HuangRHuangMZhaoJ, et al. (2024) Absence makes the heart grow fonder: the interactive effect of crowding information and spatial distance on consumers’ patronage intention. Journal of Business Research176: 114583.
23.
HuangYJiaYJrWR (2017) The effects of physical distance from a brand extension on the impact of brand-extension fit. Psychology and Marketing34(1): 59–69.
24.
JangH (2022) Judging an Airbnb booking by its cover: how profile photos affect guest ratings. Journal of Consumer Marketing39(4): 371–382.
25.
JaudDAMelnykV (2020) The effect of text-only versus text-and-image wine labels on liking, taste and purchase intentions. The mediating role of affective fluency. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services53: 101964.
26.
JiangHTanHLiuY, et al. (2020) The impact of power on destination advertising effectiveness: the moderating role of arousal in advertising. Annals of Tourism Research83: 102926.
27.
KimHHwangYGimJ, et al. (2024) When are vivid hotel photos effective? The moderating effects of resource scarcity and brand level. International Journal of Hospitality Management116: 103617.
28.
KimKLeeSChoiYK (2019) Image proximity in advertising appeals: spatial distance and product types. Journal of Business Research99: 490–497.
29.
KimSKimYK (2022) Regulatory framing in online hotel reviews: the moderating roles of temporal distance and temporal orientation. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management50: 139–147.
30.
KimYMcFarlandRG (2024) Are you looking for something specific or just looking around? Adaptive selling on the basis of customer shopping goals in retail sales. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science52: 1780–1804.
31.
KirshnerSNMoritzBB (2023) For the future and from afar: psychological distance and inventory decision-making. Production and Operations Management32(1): 170–188.
32.
KuzgunEAltinigneNArıkanE (2022) Customer satisfaction with co-created hospitality services: regulatory focus orientation and positive disconfirmation. Journal of Vacation Marketing28(4): 510–523.
33.
LadeiraWJde Oliveira SantiniF (2023) Close-up vs long-shot images in advertising appeals: the role of objective temporality. International Journal of Bank Marketing41(4): 949–970.
34.
LeiteFPPontesNSchivinskiB (2024) Influencer marketing effectiveness: giving competence, receiving credibility. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing41(3): 307–321.
35.
LiFMaJ (2023) The effectiveness of the destination logo: congruity effect between logo typeface and destination stereotypes. Tourism Management98: 104772.
36.
LiHSimchi-LeviDWuMX, et al. (2023) Estimating and exploiting the impact of photo layout: a structural approach. Management Science69(9): 5209–5233.
37.
LiSHuangHLiuX, et al. (2024) The power of visuals in destination advertising. Annals of Tourism Research107: 103790.
38.
LianTLiS (2024) What influences online users’ tourism information sharing? A study based on regulatory focus theory. Journal of Vacation Marketing0(0). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13567667241248970.
39.
LimJJangJ (2022) Does photo presentation matter for increasing booking intention?Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management31(8): 1009–1025.
40.
LiuFZhuZChenHA, et al. (2020) Beauty in the eyes of its beholders: effects of design novelty on consumer preference. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services53: 101969.
41.
LiuSQMattilaAS (2017) Airbnb: online targeted advertising, sense of power, and consumer decisions. International Journal of Hospitality Management60: 33–41.
42.
LuoYTangLRKimE (2021) A picture is worth a thousand words: the role of a cover photograph on a travel agency’s online identity. International Journal of Hospitality Management94: 102801.
43.
MaJLiF (2022) Effects of psychological distance and social influence on tourists’ hotel booking preferences. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing39(4): 394–411.
44.
McKasyM (2020) A discrete emotion with discrete effects: effects of anger on depth of information processing. Cognitive Processing21(4): 555–573.
45.
MogilnerCAakerJLPenningtonGL (2008) Time will tell: the distant appeal of promotion and imminent appeal of prevention. Journal of Consumer Research34(5): 670–681.
46.
NaletelichKKetronSSpearsN, et al. (2023) Using representational and abstract imagery to create regulatory fit effects. Psychology and Marketing40(3): 579–595.
47.
PanSLeeJTsaiH (2014) Travel photos: motivations, image dimensions, and affective qualities of places. Tourism Management40: 59–69.
48.
PettyRECacioppoJT (1986) The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology19: 123–205.
49.
RuanWQDengF (2024) Stop unsafe behaviors: matching strategies of social norms and anthropomorphized roles in tourism safety communication. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management60: 177–191.
50.
SaeedMRLeeRLockshinL, et al. (2024) How best to advertise low-fit brand extensions: a construal level theory perspective. Journal of Consumer Marketing41(1): 94–109.
51.
SahaPRibeiroMARoyB (2024) Navigating travel decisions in health crises: the interplay of message framing, regulatory focus, and perceived risk. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management59: 296–308.
52.
SalnikovaEStrizhakovaYCoulterRA (2022) Engaging consumers with environmental sustainability initiatives: consumer global–local identity and global brand messaging. Journal of Marketing Research59(5): 983–1001.
53.
Sarial-AbiGUlqinakuA (2020) Financial constraints influence how consumers evaluate approach-framed versus avoidance-framed messages. Journal of Advertising49(3): 270–291.
54.
SchmittB (2024) Consumer information processing and decision-making: Origins, findings, applications, and future directions. Journal of Consumer Research51(1): –6.
55.
SelemKMShoukatMHKhalidR, et al. (2024) Guest interaction with hotel booking website information: scale development and validation of antecedents and consequences. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management33(5): 626–648.
56.
ShahabMHGhazaliEMohtarM (2021) The role of elaboration likelihood model in consumer behaviour research and its extension to new technologies: a review and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies45(4): 664–689.
57.
ShinSXiangZ (2023) Effect of online review comment recency on information processing: interaction between overall and recently posted individual ratings. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management33(5): 602–625.
58.
ShinYNooneBMRobsonSK (2020) An exploration of the effects of photograph content, photograph source, and price on consumers’ online travel booking intentions. Journal of Travel Research59(1): 120–139.
59.
SimmonsJPNelsonLDSimonsohnU (2011) False-positive psychology: undisclosed flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant. Psychological Science22(11): 1359–1366.
60.
SuNMattilaAS (2020) Does gender bias exist? The impact of gender congruity on consumer’s airbnb booking intention and the mediating role of trust. International Journal of Hospitality Management89: 102405.
61.
SuQLiFS (2024) Influence of time metaphor and destination image proximity on tourist responses. Tourism Management105: 104942.
62.
SunagaTMengYZhuangX (2020) Interactions between instrumental timbre and consumers’ regulatory focus. Journal of Business Research121: 1–12.
63.
ThongpapanlNAshrafARLapaL, et al. (2018) Differential effects of customers’ regulatory fit on trust, perceived value, and m-commerce use among developing and developed countries. Journal of International Marketing26(3): 22–44.
64.
TianYZhangHJiangY, et al. (2022) Understanding trust and perceived risk in sharing accommodation: an extended elaboration likelihood model and moderated by risk attitude. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management31(3): 348–368.
65.
VigliaGDolnicarS (2020) A review of experiments in tourism and hospitality. Annals of Tourism Research80: 102858.
66.
WangBJiaT (2024) The power of personalization: hosts how to promote guest bookings by personalized responses. International Journal of Hospitality Management120: 103766.
67.
WangYWuLXieK, et al. (2019) Staying with the ingroup or outgroup? A cross-country examination of international travelers’ home-sharing preferences. International Journal of Hospitality Management77: 425–437.
68.
XieKLLeeYJ (2020) Hotels at fingertips: informational cues in consumer conversion from search, click-through, to book. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology11(1): 49–67.
69.
XuXHuangY (2019) Restaurant information cues, diners’ expectations, and need for cognition: experimental studies of online-to-offline mobile food ordering. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services51: 231–241.
70.
YangBYeTHwangY, et al. (2024) Why and when physical cleanliness increases tourists’ payments under pay-what-you-want pricing: the mediating role of moral self-regard and the moderating role of regulatory focus. Journal of Sustainable Tourism: 1–21. Epub ahead of print, 16 August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2024.2391906.
71.
YaoJWangDMartinBA (2024) The regulatory fit effect on consumer preferences for price discounts and bonus packs. Psychology and Marketing41(11): 2884–2895.
72.
YiXKimHLuoX, et al. (2024) Visit intention via mobile app usage in pandemic alleviation: influences of regulatory focus and risk. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research48(5): 895–908.
73.
YoonHJLa FerleC (2018) Saving behavior messaging: gain/loss framing, self/family orientations, and individual differences in collectivism. Journal of Advertising47(2): 146–160.
74.
ZengQGuoQZhuangW, et al. (2023) Do real-time reviews matter? Examining how bullet screen influences consumers’ purchase intention in live streaming commerce. Information Systems Frontiers25(5): 2051–2067.
75.
ZhanLChengMZhuJ (2024) Progress on image analytics: implications for tourism and hospitality research. Tourism Management100: 104798.
76.
ZhangHZachFJXiangZ (2024) Multi-level differentiation of short-term rental properties: a deep learning-based analysis of aesthetic design. Tourism Management100: 104832.
77.
ZhangJBalajiMSLuoJ, et al. (2024) It is a match! The effect of regulatory fit on new products recommendations. Psychology and Marketing. 41: 1882–1899
78.
ZhangKWangYZengY, et al. (2024) The impact of green landscape elements in cover page photographs on consumers’ Airbnb booking behavior. Journal of Sustainable Tourism: 1–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2024.2375336.
79.
ZhangSLiuWZhangT, et al. (2024) Harms of inconsistency: the impact of user-generated and marketing-generated photos on hotel booking intentions. Tourism Management Perspectives51: 101249.
80.
ZhangYShaoWQuachS, et al. (2024) Examining the moderating effects of shopping orientation, product knowledge and involvement on the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) retail environment. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services78: 103713.
81.
ZhengLHuangBQiuH, et al. (2024) The role of social media followers’ agency in influencer marketing: a study based on the heuristic–systematic model of information processing. International Journal of Advertising43(3): 554–579.
82.
ZhouXLouCHuangX (2024) Transcendent brand activism advertising: explicating the roles of color and message framing in advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising53(2): 183–199.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
