The Role of Photograph Aesthetics in Wine Tourists’ Decision Making

This study aims to investigate the impacts of amateur and professional photograph aesthetics found in Google reviews on wine tourists' attitudes, perceptions of the source's credibility, and visit intentions throughout the information search phase using a Stimulus- Organism- Response framework. A secondary goal is to investigate the impact of individual characteristics (i.e., risk-taking propensity and involvement) and contextual cues (i.e., reliance on reviews) as moderators on the relationships mentioned above. An online survey questionnaire was utilized to collect data from 703 participants residing in the U.S. SPSS and PLS-SEM were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that photograph aesthetics had a significant and positive relationship with perceived credibility, visitors' attitudes toward wineries, and visit intentions. The perceived credibility of the source played a key role in the decision-making process, influencing a person's attitudes toward a winery and their intentions to visit. Attitude toward a winery also positively impacted visit intention. The role of reliance on reviews, risk-taking propensity, and involvement was not confirmed as moderators. The multi-group analysis technique showed significant variations between the professional and amateur aesthetics with respect to the effect of aesthetics on credibility, aesthetics on attitude, attitude on visit intention, and the moderating effect of risk-taking propensity on the relationship between perceived credibility and visit intention. The effect was stronger in the professional aesthetics group in all these relationships. The current study contributes to the literature on electronic word-of-mouth communication (reviews), online marketing, photo aesthetics, and behavioral models of wine tourism. It also adds to the knowledge on the impact of message type in an online setting in the tourism industry. The present study's findings have significant practical implications for wineries that utilize websites and social media to interact with customers, advertise their wines and services, and promote their brands. The current study's findings will also provide important implications for winery managers regarding which photos they should focus more on online platforms to attract more visitors, increase sales, and remain competitive. The study results will also provide insights for marketers and managers in the wine industry to develop better marketing strategies. Finally, this study's findings can be applied to other settings such as restaurants, hotels, and tourism destinations.

Embargo status: Restricted until 06/2028. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left.