From face to hand: Rethinking tourism selfies through self-presence and the destination-centered perspective

Guided by self-reference theory, this research examines the effects of different types of destination selfies on social media engagement and travel intention. Across four field experiments and five online experiments, this research reveals that hand-mark selfies, compared to landmark-only images or full-face tourist selfies, elicit greater self-projection, which enhances emotional empathy, leading to higher social media engagement and travel intention. However, interpersonal closeness moderates these effects: when posts are shared by close friends, full-face selfies outperform hand-mark selfies and landmark-only images. This study calls into question the prevailing assumption that selfies featuring full human faces are the most effective in driving engagement. This study provides actionable insights into the strategic use of hand-mark selfies to influence behavioral outcomes.