Responsible tourism positioning and self-presentation on Instagram by tourists
Author
Kaulina, Anete
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2020
Abstract
Tourism is growing rapidly and can produce significant negative impacts on nature, economies and local communities, while social media—especially Instagram—shapes where and how people travel. This thesis aims to develop a bottom-up understanding of how tourists position responsible tourism on Instagram and how they simultaneously present themselves through that communication. The study is grounded in a three-dimensional framework of responsible tourism and Jones’ (1990) theory of strategic self-presentation. Methodologically, it adopts an interpretivist, abductive approach using covert, non-participant netnography of Instagram posts and qualitative thematic analysis of both visual and textual content. The dataset comprises 126 posts tagged with #responsibletourism. Findings indicate that nearly half of the posts position responsible tourism within the three dimensions of responsible tourism, while the remainder link responsibility to nature travel, architecture, encounters with locals, or more self-focused posing. Environmental themes dominate. In terms of self-presentation, tourists most frequently use ingratiation and competence (self-promotion), with exemplification appearing in fewer cases, intimidation in even fewer, and no instances of supplication. The study advances understanding of how user-generated content on Instagram frames responsible tourism and may have potential to nudge tourist behavior in a more responsible direction.
Turisme vokser hurtigt og kan skabe betydelige negative konsekvenser for natur, økonomi og lokalsamfund, samtidig med at sociale medier – særligt Instagram – påvirker, hvor og hvordan mennesker rejser. Denne afhandling har til formål at udvikle en bottom-up-forståelse af, hvordan turister positionerer ansvarlig turisme på Instagram, og hvordan de samtidig præsenterer sig selv gennem denne kommunikation. Teoretisk trækker studiet på en tredimensionel ramme for ansvarlig turisme og på Jones’ (1990) teori om strategisk selvfremstilling. Metodisk anvendes en fortolkende, abduktiv tilgang med skjult, ikke-deltagende netnografi af Instagram-opslag samt kvalitativ tematisk analyse af både visuelle og tekstlige elementer. Datagrundlaget består af 126 opslag tagget med #responsibletourism. Resultaterne viser, at knap halvdelen af opslagene positionerer ansvarlig turisme inden for de tre dimensioner af ansvarlig turisme, mens resten kobler ansvarlighed til naturrejser, arkitektur, møder med lokale eller mere selvorienterede poseringer. Miljøperspektivet er det mest fremtrædende tema. I selvfremstillingen anvender turister oftest indsmigring og kompetence (selvpromovering), mens eksemplificering ses sjældnere, intimidering endnu sjældnere og tiggerstrategien slet ikke. Studiet bidrager med ny viden om, hvordan brugergenereret indhold på Instagram kan rammesætte ansvarlig turisme og potentielt påvirke turisters adfærd i en mere ansvarlig retning.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]