Research on the influence of online photograph reviews on tourists' travel intentions: rational and irrational perspectives

PurposeThe study aims to explore the effects of photograph quality on visual appeal, perceived usefulness and viewers' travel intentions from rational and irrational perspectives while simultaneously providing some references for the management and marketing of tourism destinations.Design/methodology/approachThe study comprises four experiments combined with structural equation modeling to explore the influence mechanism of photograph quality on travel intentions.Findings(1) Higher-quality photographs offer greater visual appeal and perceived usefulness to viewers, and these relationships are moderated by the photograph source. Specifically, high-quality photographs generated by other tourists have more visual appeal and perceived usefulness to viewers. However, there are no significant differences in the impact of low-quality photographs generated by other tourists and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) on visual appeal and perceived usefulness. (2) Visual appeal and perceived usefulness significantly affect viewers' travel intentions, and visual appeal positively affects perceived usefulness. (3) Travel experience positively moderates the effects of visual appeal and perceived usefulness on viewers' travel intentions.Originality/valueThe study explores the effects of the visual appeal (irrational factor) and perceived usefulness (rational factor) associated with photograph quality on viewers' travel intentions. Photograph source and travel experiences have moderating effects on this influence mechanism.

What Was the Visual Appeal of Kabuki?

By using several woodblock-printed pictures to explore the visual appeal of kabuki in the Edo period. (1) Focus on the construction of kabuki theatre and the props on stage, considering prevailing examples to interpret how the kabuki theatre acted as an adequate arena for the exercise of actors’ talents, thus entrancing the audiences. (2) Discuss the costumes, make-up and wigs of classic characters to directly capture the visual experiences of the Edo people in kabuki theatres. (3) The representative dancing and acting will be considered to analyse their visual characteristics.

Contingent Motion

This chapter examines fluttering leaves, swirling dust, and rippling waves as one of cinema’s earliest and most significant forms of motion. While most theorists maintain that such phenomena attracted early spectators because their unplanned appearance flaunted the indexical realism of cinema’s indiscriminate recording, this chapter shows how this attraction is part of a broader visual appeal of “contingent motion” that precedes the cinematic image and persists in the age of digital animation. Specifically, the chapter juxtaposes phenomenological insights about such phenomena in Kant’s Critique of Judgment, early spectators’ reactions to such phenomena in “wave films,” and contemporary spectators’ reactions to synthetic versions of such phenomena in computer-generated cartoons like Frozen (2013). In revealing a phenomenological consistency across these three different ways of encountering such phenomena, the chapter shows how early spectators’ astonishment at fluttering leaves and rippling waves cannot be explained with theories of the photographic index. Instead, this chapter argues, the visual reproduction of contingent motion involves its own logics of visual pleasure distinct from the marvels of the photographic process.

Exploring Destination Choice Intention by Using the Tourism Photographic: From the Perspectives of Visual Esthetic Processing

This study aims to deepen the understanding of tourism photography by developing and testing a theoretical model that accounts for the relationships between visual esthetics and destination choice intention of tourists. Thus, we sought to use a stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) paradigm to predict destination choice intention, which includes three variables related to visual esthetics: first impression, visual appeal, and esthetic emotion. We used the combination of self-reported and eye movement data to examine the cognitive processes of tourists that visual esthetic formation. We found that compared to the built environment and amateur esthetic images, natural environment and professional esthetic images can get (1) higher visual appeal, (2) better first impression, and (3) higher visual processing fluency (or less cognitive effort) and positive esthetic emotions. Furthermore, visual appeal, first impression, and esthetic emotion deriving from environment esthetics and photograph esthetics have a positive impact on destination choice intention. This study has practical implications for destination planning and management.

Typographic Portrait Generator Using Image Processing-Project Application

Typography portrait is a portrait made up of words. The face of a person has different shades and distinct features. In order to make a typography portrait the distinct shades and features need to be clearly extracted. Existing systems focus only on the different shades of the face. They fill the face with word clouds without any regard for the distinct features of a face. This project will consider not only the shades of a face but also the features of a person’s face. The extraction of facial features will be done first and then text filling will be done accordingly. This project intends to create an application that will create a typography portrait having a much better visual appeal than the present systems. Keywords: Image Processing, Edge Detection, Image Segmentation, Face Recognition, Text Filling.

Assessing Quality Factors and User Preference of Drug Reference Apps in Taiwan: Systematic Search and Evaluation (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Drug reference apps play various distinct and vital roles through the medication use process. A drug reference app that carried out comprehensive localized drug information would greatly improve the efficiency and quality of work for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and patients. OBJECTIVE This current study aimed to describe a systematic and stepwise process to identify drug reference apps with localized drug information in Taiwan. Moreover, we assessed the quality of these apps by using a reliable quality assessment tool and further analyzing the influential factors for user ratings. METHODS A two-step algorithm (KESS) consisting of keyword growing and systematic search was proposed. Apps were divided into two groups: higher user ratings and lower user ratings. Seven independent reviewers were trained to evaluate these apps using Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). A logistic regression model was fitted, and average marginal effects (AME) were calculated to identify the effects of factors for higher user ratings. A p-value< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS A total of 23 drug reference apps in Taiwan had been identified and analyzed. Ten apps had higher user star ratings (>=4 stars), and 13 apps had lower user star ratings ( < 4 stars). These drug reference apps had acceptable quality with an average MARS score of 3.23. Apps with higher user star ratings had higher MARS scores than the lowers (engagement (2.70 v.s. 2.50, P= .005), functionality (3.85 v.s. 3.49, P= .003), aesthetics (3.39 v.s. 2.98, P < .001), and information (3.55 v.s. 3.25, P= .005)). The regression model showed five influential factors for higher user ratings (navigation, AME, 13.15%; performance, AME, 11.03%; visual appeal, AME, 10.87%; credibility, AME, 10.67%; quantity of information, AME, 10.42%). CONCLUSIONS The proposed KESS algorithm could be a valuable and unbiased framework for systematic search for app. While the higher engagement, more functionality, better aesthetics, and more information associated with higher user ratings, there are five most influential factors, navigation, performance, visual appeal, credibility, and quantity of information among the four elements.

Visualising natural attractions within national parks: Preferences of tourists for photographs with different visual characteristics

To explore what types of photographs are more helpful means to interpret natural attractions within national parks, this study focused on the relationship between the photographs with different visual characteristics and their perceived visual appeal. A photograph-based Q method was adopted. Results confirmed the visual quality of a photograph was the most important characteristic that determined its perceived attractiveness; those photographs with a high visual quality could successfully attract tourists’ attention. The subject also significantly affected the preferences of observers, suggesting an interest-dependent pattern. Using photographs of birds as examples, the participants who were interested in birds were attracted by the photographs of birds rather than those of other subjects. This study provides a better understanding of the effectiveness of photographs for communication. Findings may help researchers, communicators and national park marketers better understand and select appropriate photographs for interpretation within national parks.

Do You See It Clearly? The Effect of Packaging and Label Format on Google Ads

The nature of e-commerce prevents the perception of the intrinsic and sensory attributes of wine. In the virtual environment, visual cues allow consumers to perceive the product, determine their attitude and form a preference. Users will choose one product or another based on the visual appeal of the advertisements they have seen. Wine marketers must consider the importance of the advertisement elements and attract the consumer’s attention. Optimizing the elements included in these messages can help capture consumers’ attention and achieve a higher click-through rate on the ads. The main objective of this work is to analyse the awareness that different advertisements achieve. Specifically, we use a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design where we manipulate the packaging format (single bottle vs. pack), labelling (bottle without label vs. labelled bottle) for wine ads (white and red). To analyse attention, we used an eye-tracking methodology. The main results suggest that attention is captured more quickly with an individual bottle without a label than with a particular bottle with a label in Google ads. However, ads showing packs of bottles with labels get more attention than ads using packs of bottles without labels.

Design aspects of vaginal applicators that influence acceptance among target users

Although sensory-guided product design is most traditionally used by food and beverage companies, the approach has widespread application for many other products, including pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Previously, our team used sensory methods to explore preclinical optimization of soft-gel vaginal microbicides. Past clinical trials suggest vaginal microbicides may be an effective means for women to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, but these microbicides will not work if they are not used due to poor acceptability. Our prior work suggests properties like firmness, size, and shape all influence women’s willingness to try soft-gel vaginal suppositories. As product insertion is part of the overall experience of using vaginal microbicides, understanding the features of vaginal applicators that appeal to women, and incorporating these insights into vaginal drug delivery systems, may also improve user adherence. Despite widespread use of vaginal applicators, there is minimal public data on women’s perceptions of and preferences for physical applicator features. Other work suggests women want vaginal applicators that are single use, pre-filled, made of plastic, and easy to use, store, and discard. Applicator attributes that may be important to women, such as length, color, or visual appeal, have not been investigated previously. The objective of this research was to understand what physical applicator attributes are appealing to women. Here, 18 commercially available applicators were evaluated by a convenience sample of women (n = 102) for overall liking and perceptions of various attributes (perceived length and width, ease-of-grip, expected ease-of-use, expected comfort inside the body, visual appeal, color liking, and environmental friendliness). Preference mapping using both liking data and attribute data showed attributes such as color, visual appeal, ease of grip, expected ease of use, and expected comfort inside the body drove higher liking ratings for applicators, while perceived length negatively affected liking. In general, plastic tampon applicators contained more positive features and were better liked relative to a cardboard tampon applicator or applicators for insertion of medicated gels or suppositories. Incorporating more desirable features into applicators meant for insertion of vaginal microbicides or other vaginal medications may improve the user experience, and possibly user adherence.