Human-wildlife interactions and Instagram credibility
Date
2022
Authors
Nankey, Paige, author
Abrams, Katie, advisor
Park, Young Eun, committee member
Burkhardt, Jesse, committee member
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Abstract
Wildlife selfies are becoming a more common occurrence on social media platforms today. However, approaching wildlife with the intent to use them as a photo prop can be detrimental to both the humans and the wildlife involved. By utilizing source credibility and familiarity, this study works to identify an effective method that dissuades individuals from taking wildlife selfies and posting them on Instagram, mainly by analyzing the self-reported behavioral beliefs and intentions of participants. This study varied source credibility on three levels in terms of trust and authority while also varying how familiar different wildlife species are to Colorado university students. Results determined comment author source credibility and wildlife species familiarity did not significantly affect the behavioral intent or beliefs of respondents when it comes to wildlife selfies. However, the interaction between comment source credibility and wildlife species familiarity did significantly affect the behavioral intentions and beliefs of respondents. The mixed findings of this study as thus able to contribute to and expand upon existing literature, while also providing evidence of a need for more research in this area in order to better understand social media credibility and best practices for advocating for individuals keeping their distance from wildlife, especially when it comes to posting these close encounters online.
Description
Rights Access
Subject
online credibility
wildlife selfies
social media
Instagram credibility