Compared to text, photos are more conspicuous and suited for self-presentation. Although other motivations, such as helping others, partly account for photo sharing in online reviews, we emphasize a model of social status in which a conspicuous display of distant tourism products is used as a signal of an individual's status. Drawing on self-enhancement theory, we test hypotheses concerning exhibitionistic motivation in photo posting using a novel dataset of group tourism products. An instrumental variable method is used to address the endogeneity issue. We find that the distance between departure and destination, an indicator of cost and time spent, has a positive effect on the inclination to share photos. But people of higher status refrain from the conspicuous display of their photos. Moreover, the distance effect on photo sharing is mitigated by status within a website, suggesting that people assign different marginal values to the conspicuous display of tourism products at the same distance. This study contributes to the understanding of photo-sharing behavior in online reviews and can help platform managers build strategies to enhance reach and engagement.

与文字相比，照片更显眼，更适合自我展示。尽管其他动机，例如帮助他人，部分解释了在线评论中的照片分享，但我们强调了一种社会地位模型，在该模型中，遥远的旅游产品的显眼展示被用作个人地位的信号。借鉴自我增强理论，我们使用新的团体旅游产品数据集测试有关照片发布中暴露动机的假设。工具变量法用于解决内生性问题。我们发现出发地和目的地之间的距离是成本和时间的指标，对分享照片的倾向有积极影响。但地位较高的人不会在显眼的地方展示他们的照片。而且，照片分享的距离效应被网站内的状态所缓解，这表明人们为相同距离的旅游产品的显眼展示分配了不同的边际价值。这项研究有助于理解在线评论中的照片分享行为，并可以帮助平台管理者制定策略以提高影响力和参与度。