Tourists-generated photographs in online media and tourism destination choice: The case of Shiraz metropolis in Iran

Figures & data

Figure 1. Circle of representation (Jenkins, 2003).

Figure 2. Location of Shiraz metropolis.

Table 1. Five-star hotels in Shiraz and the number of distributed questionnaires

Name of Hotel	Number of distributed questionnaires
Shiraz Grand Hotel	85
Zandiyeh	60
Homa	75
Chamran Grand Hotel	95
Pars	50
Persepolis	50

Table 2. Variables and sub-variables defined to design the research model resource

Measure		Index	Variable
Tourists -generated photograph (TGP)-(A1)	Multidimensional (A11)	The photo reflects the different landscapes of destination.	(Suharyanto et al., 2020, p. 105)
	Tourist involvement (A12)	Create a mental conflict regarding the destination reflected in the photo	(Balomenou & Garrod, 2019, p. 7)
	Being unique (A13)	Different from other pictures of tourist destinations	(Akgün et al., 2020, p. 115)
	Stimulating emotions (A14)	Beautiful coloring, exaggerated, with positive reviews from previous tourists	(Akgün et al., 2020, p. 107)
Tourism Destination Choice (TDC) - (A2)	DSQ (A21)	Like local transport, accommodation, cleanliness, hospitality, different activities, airport, language skills	(Balomenou & Garrod, 2019, p. 301)
	DMIOT (A22)	The marketing power of tourism destination media	(Balomenou & Garrod, 2019, p. 10)
	DSA (A23)	Features with no competing destinations	(Hahm et al., 2018, p. 11)

Table 3. Research hypotheses

Main hypothesis: Tourists-generated photography shared in cyberspace affected tourist destination choice, Case Study (Shiraz metropolis)
Subsidiary Hypotheses	The impact of tourists-generated photography shared in cyberspace (TGP)	H1	Multidimensionality of the photo has a significant effect on the impact of user-generated photography and sharing it in cyberspace.
		H2	Tourist involvement of the photo has a significant effect on the impact of user-generated photography and sharing it in cyberspace.
		H3	Being unique in the photo has a significant effect on the impact of user-generated photography and sharing it in cyberspace.
		H4	Stimulate emotions by the photo has a significant effect on the impact of user-generated photography and sharing it in cyberspace.
	Tourist Destination Choice (TDC)	H5	DSQ has a significant impact on tourist destination choice.
		H6	DMIOT has a significant impact on tourist destination choice.
		H7	DSA has a significant impact on tourist destination choice.

Table 4. Correlation analysis of the structures and indexes

	A11	A12	A13	A14	A21	A22	A23	A1	A2
A11	1	0.564	0.766	0.446	0.866	0.514	0.666	0.655	0.550
A12		1	0.606	0.597	0.511	0.643	0.761	0.654	0.502
A13			1	0.487	0.503	0.495	0.512	0.563	0.546
A14				1	0.632	0.776	0.769	0.319	0.531
A21					1	0.253	0.599	0.776	0.530
A22						1	0.625	0.653	0.699
A23							1	0.352	0.341
A1								1	0.725
A2									1

Table 5. Convergent Validity

Variable	Cronbach’s alpha	AVE	CR
A11	0.847	0.561	0.766
A12	0.806	0521	0.738
A13	0.781	0.592	0.766
A14	0.852	0.745	0.844
A21	0.744	0.653	0.744
A22	0.870	0.654	0.866
A23	0.841	0.694	0.870
A1	0.721	0.794	0.841
A2	0.823	0.751	0.766

Table 6. Coefficient of FL

1	A11	M 1	0.72	5	A21	DSQ 1	0.89
		M 2	0.92			DSQ 1	0.91
		M 3	0.81			DSQ 1	0.98
		M 4	0.65			DSQ 1	0.88
		M 5	0.76			DSQ 1	0.81
		M 6	0.64			DSQ 1	0.77
		M 7	0.62	6	A22	DMIOT 1	0.64
2	A12	TI 1	0.87			DMIOT 2	0.66
		TI 2	0.62			DMIOT 3	0.84
		TI 3	0.82			DMIOT 4	0.65
		TI 4	0.91			DMIOT 5	0.98
3	A13	BU 1	0.93			DMIOT 6	0.69
		BU 2	0.82			DMIOT 7	0.71
		BU 3	0.88	7	A23	DSA 1	0.73
		BU 4	0.85			DSA 2	0.82
		BU 5	0.89			DSA 3	0.69
		BU 6	0.66			DSA 4	0.68
		BU 7	0.78			DSA 5	0.78
4	A14	SE 1	0.78			DSA 6	0.95
		SE 2	0.91			DSA 7	0.79
		SE 3	0.61			DSA 8	0.66
		SE 4	0.67			DSA 9	0.66
		SE 5	0.88			DSA 10	0.68

Table 7. Divergent validity (Dv)

	A11	A12	A13	A14	A21	A22	A23	A1	A2
A11	0.61
A12	0.33	0.74
A13	0.45	0.56	0.79
A14	0.31	0.44	0.39	0.88
A21	0.2	0.22	0.35	0.55	0.73
A22	0.27	0.56	0.222	0.5	0.54	0.63
A23	0.26	0.28	0.4	0.17	0.24	0.14	0.71
A1	0.11	0.23	0.25	0.39	0.27	0.15	0.34	0.76
A2	0.41	0.30	0.20	0.19	0.24	0.45	0.31	0.40	1

Table 8. The main hypothesis testing

	H	ß	T	P	Result
The main hypothesis	Tourist-Generated Photography (TGP) affected Tourists’ Destination Choice (TDC)	0.743	5.85	P<0.05	✓

Figure 3. Final research model.

Table 9. Subsidiary hypothesis testing

Subsidiary hypotheses	A11 → TGP	0.581	3.11	P<0.05	✓
	A12 → TGP	0.501	3.14	P<0.05	✓
	A13 → TGP	4.79	2.17	P<0.05	✓
	A14 → TGP	0.522	3.28	P<0.05	✓
	A21 → TDC	0.641	3.99	P<0.05	✓
	A22 → TDC	0.705	5.22	P<0.05	✓
	A23 → TDC	0.617	4.91	P<0.05	✓

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