Previous research has found that taking photos during travel for the purpose of sharing with others via SNS (social networking sites) induces self-presentational concerns, which can decrease engagement and enjoyment of the experience. However, the previous studies have defined travel engagement and enjoyment too narrowly and failed to consider the heterogeneity in terms of the importance of photo-taking. While some travelers are reluctant photo takers and regard taking photos as a bother, others place more importance on photo-taking than sightseeing, and may therefore find it difficult to enjoy the travel experience without taking photos. To address these deficiencies, we modeled not only negative, but also positive relationships between photo-taking and travel engagement and enjoyment. The results showed that when taking photos, travelers who regard photo-taking as important were more engaged in the experience and enjoyed it more than travelers who regarded photo-taking as less important. Thus, this study provides a theoretical contribution to research on travel engagement.

Previous research has suggested that if WOM (word-of-mouth) receivers are exposed to a video message in which a person tell that he/she had great effort to earn money and purchase a desirable product, they feel benignly envious and increase WTP (willingness-to-pay) for the recommended product; if they are exposed to another message in which a person tell that he had no effort to earn money and purchase the product, they feel maliciously envious and increase WTP for a related, but different, product. However, it may not be true in the context of e-WOM (electronic word-of-mouth) through SNS (social networking sites). This research conducted three laboratory experiments in the context of e-WOM, unlike the context of face-to-face WOM. The results showed that: (1) receivers were less likely to feel maliciously envious to friends and increase WTP for the products; (2) receivers were less likely to feel maliciously envious if they are exposed to the message as a tool for marketing; and (3) receivers were less likely to avoid the recommended product even though they feel maliciously envious if they have any other measures of retaliation. With these findings, this research contributes to a progress in the field of e-WOM through SNS.

Japanese animation, called anime, has long been regarded as a niche culture reserved for ‘nerds’ (otaku) in Japan. The word otaku refers to individuals who spend most of their time alone at home watching anime, reading comics (manga) and/or playing video games. However, in recent years, otaku, or anime viewers, have changed their behavioral patterns, resulting in a new transcultural movement. That peculiar phenomenon is known as anime pilgrimage, which involves traveling to locations that resemble particular scenes in anime pieces, even though the locations themselves may be ordinary places. Research on ordinary tourism has focused mainly on destination attributes as determinants of visit intention/destination loyalty. Research on film tourism places additional emphasis on the role of film involvement. We focus here on social influences. The results of structured regression analyses show that our new models were superior to previous models that omitted investigation of social influences. Furthermore, the results show that though, during the pre-trip period “within home”, anime nerds may expect that they will interact primarily with other nerds, they enjoy interactions with the local people while traveling. Such transcultural experiences result in higher destination loyalty during the post-trip period “beyond home”.