Human ethology and tourists’ photographic poses

Abstract

In this study the ideas and approaches of human ethology are applied to the topic of individual tourists posing for a photograph at iconic tourism sites. The emphasis in the study is on tourists’ postures and, using both researcher collected examples and internet materials, the work outlines an original category scheme for the kinds of poses observed. An eight part coding scheme was built on a careful analysis of the position of the tourists’ head, trunk, arms, legs and gestures. The labels assigned to the five most common poses were composed, cute, bland, model, and interacting with the tourist attraction. There was substantial agreement among two coders who applied the eight part system to 325 images. Explanations for these posture styles were pursued through considering concepts from human ethology. The potential applications of this style of work were briefly noted.