In today’s digital age, social media platforms are flooded with an abundance of content, making it increasingly challenging for tourism marketers to capture the attention of their target audience. A recent study conducted by researchers from the Macao University of Tourism (UTM) sheds light on the importance of simple and engaging picture captions in driving user engagement on social media platforms, particularly in the realm of tourism marketing.
The study, titled “The Art of Post Captions: Readability and User Engagement on Social Media,” delves into the impact of captions on posted images in influencing user engagement rates. Co-authored by Mr. Wilson Hong Cheong Hin from UTM, Dr. Joanne Yu from City University of Macau, and Dr. Roman Egger from the University of Salzburg in Austria, the research was published in the Journal of Travel Research earlier this year.
Analyzing a dataset of 9,766 posts from national tourism boards on Instagram, the researchers examined the relationship between post captions, likes, comments, follower count, and image content. The posts were categorized into 17 distinct clusters based on common themes such as monuments, food, and nature.
The findings of the study highlighted the significance of simplicity in post captions. Posts featuring vibrant locations or activities paired with easy-to-read captions were found to generate a significantly higher engagement rate than average posts. Interestingly, user engagement with images of cultural and historical attractions remained unaffected even with more complex caption information. However, posts with non-cultural content and complex language experienced a notable drop in engagement.
The study measured the readability of post captions on two levels: structural complexity and lexical complexity. Structural complexity focused on the grammatical structure of language at the sentence level, while lexical complexity referred to the vocabulary used in texts. The researchers emphasized that simplicity in post captions is crucial for enhancing user engagement, as it increases the likelihood of posts reaching a wider audience and gaining exposure for destination management organizations.
Dr. Joanne Yu, Mr. Wilson Hong Cheong Hin, and Dr. Roman Egger, the authors of the study, highlighted the importance of understanding how readability influences engagement rates on social media. They advised marketers to simplify the text of captions regardless of the perceived sophistication of the subject matter related to the tourism destination. Even slight changes in wording were found to have a significant impact on the likelihood of a post being liked and commented on.
Dr. Joanne Yu, an assistant professor at City University of Macau, specializes in digital communication, consumer experience, social media data analysis, and emerging technologies in tourism. Mr. Wilson Hong Cheong Hin, a lecturer at UTM, focuses on language education, applied linguistics, psychology, and tourism, with expertise in eye-tracking experiments. Dr. Roman Egger, an adjunct assistant professor at Modul University Vienna, specializes in eTourism and methodological issues in tourism research.
In conclusion, the study underscores the importance of simplicity in post captions for driving user engagement on social media platforms, particularly in the context of tourism marketing. By crafting easy-to-read captions that align with the intended product image, marketers can enhance the effectiveness of their online marketing strategies and increase exposure for destination management organizations. As competition for users’ attention intensifies on social media, keeping posted picture captions simple is key to capturing and retaining audience engagement.
