Ben Guttmann
We’ve hit the point in the summer where it feels like everybody is on vacation. As somebody staying local this year with a newborn, opening Instagram these days is an exercise in self-imposed FOMO. This couple is in Greece. That old classmate is in Japan. This family is at Glacier National Park. That friend-of-a-friend is summering in Maine.
All these photos are beautiful. They all make me want to go everywhere. But as it turns out, the science tells us that some of these photos are more persuasive than others.
The secret to a great tourism marketing photo? People, but no faces.
In a new study, researchers from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong examined how different types of photographs affect how attractive we find a destination.
The paper’s authors presented subjects with two sets of photos, one of a beautiful scene on its own and another of the same scene but with a person, seen from behind, in the frame. Participants who saw the human photo rated the destination in the photo as 9.1% more attractive.
Then, they added another variable: Can you see the model’s face or not?
The researchers prepared another set of photos, one without a person, one with a model facing away, and one with a model facing the camera. The results: again, a faceless person generated a perception bump, this time around 6.7%. But the visible face negated the benefit – resulting in nearly identical levels of perceived destination attractiveness.
Here’s what the researchers had to say about this effect:
“Our findings identify human presence as an impactful and easily manipulatable cue for destination marketers to inspire potential tourists’ imagination of their future travel experiences. More importantly, this vivid mental simulation induced by human presence cues is found to significantly improve destination attractiveness. Consequently, we recommend that destination marketers incorporate more photos featuring human presence on destination official websites, social media platforms, and OTA platforms to induce travel fantasies and intentions.
… [O]ur findings remind marketers that showing a clear face in travel photos may backfire on viewers’ mental simulation processes and reduce destination attractiveness. Therefore, it is recommended that tourism marketers should design promo photos that reduce the intrusiveness of others to achieve a better communication effect, such as using a model with a back view or an unclear face.”
So, we like travel photos with the idea of people in them. But we don’t really want to see that particular person. We like to imagine ourselves in the destination, and once we see somebody else’s face, it breaks the illusion.
About a decade ago, travel Instagrammer Murad Osmann went viral for his recurring #FollowMeTo photos of his partner, Nataly Osmann, pulling him forward into a series of stunning destinations. In their typical snapshot, you never see Nataly’s face, only the back of her head and whatever chic outfit she is wearing. As the viewer, it felt like she was literally pulling you into the scene. It was mesmerizing, and it spawned countless millions of copycat posts as millennials stole the pose for their own vacation posts.
This faceless model bonus also shows up in popular stock photography databases. If you search “travel” on Unsplash or Pexels, you have to scroll quite a bit before you see anybody’s smiling face. Shutterstock has a few more faces, but that’s to be expected with their more commercial brand.
But these results weren’t universal. Photos of urban settings actually exhibited the opposite effect – images of empty streetscapes, without people, were deemed more attractive destinations by participants. I don’t find this particularly surprising, as snapshots of an empty street provide a zen contrast to our everyday urban experience of hustle and bustle. There’s a surreal beauty in walking around an empty city at 6:00AM, and it certainly translates to Instagram.
Other studies have also found similarly positive effects of humans appearing in hotel and destination photos. But notably, if the “product” being advertised relates to somebody’s identity, like a wedding venue, photos of others can lead to a negative perception – that venue is theirs, not mine. (Tangentially, one study found that featuring people in pictures of unhealthy foods made the junk food seem tastier.)
Now, this all applies to brands – but I don’t think you should follow it in your personal life. As I’ve said in my unsolicited advice, take photos of your friends and family. We already have enough stock photos of the Grand Canyon.
