Holiday photographic trends: Geographic origin and the male/female divide

Abstract

This study aims to examine the influence of geographic origin and gender on photo-taking and photo-sharing behaviours. An online survey was circulated in four geographical areas: Australia, Canada, India, and Malaysia. The survey questions asked respondents’ preferred types of photographic device, photo-content, photo-taking motivation, and photo-sharing behaviours while on holiday. Data were analysed using crosstabulation with Chi-square, controlling for gender, and reporting strength of association with Cramer's V. Results show geographic origin and gender are significant indicators of tourists’ photo-taking and photo-sharing behaviour. The number one preference for male/female respondents from India and Malaysia is taking photos of family, which are shared on social media. While nearly a third of male respondents from Australia and Canada do not share holiday photos on social media. Knowledge of this type may assist tourism marketers and destination marketing organisations (DMOs) to personalise their tourism offerings according to geographic region and gender.