Triathlon posts on Instagram

Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 Resumen La identidad de una marca refleja sus valores clave. Por su parte, la imagen de marca son las asociaciones de los usuarios con esta marca. Por tanto, para conocer las percepciones de los usuarios y obtener una posible congruencia entre la identidad y la imagen de marca es inmensamente importante aplicar una estrategia de marketing eficaz. Por ello, el objetivo principal de este estudio es analizar las diferencias de los atractivos de imagen, comparando las identidades y las imágenes de marca de los eventos deportivos en cuestión y su efecto en la interacción del usuario. Se realizó un análisis de contenido, con una muestra global de 629 imágenes de Instagram de cinco triatlones. Se empleó un libro de códigos específicamente elaborado para este estudio. Los atractivos más frecuentes fueron personas, atletas, un entorno urbano, correr como deporte, la línea de salida/meta como momento del evento y la concentración como emoción, con un 90% de imágenes mostrando un tono positivo. Las publicaciones que mostraban personas, emociones, un tono positivo y la línea de salida/meta obtuvieron mayores tasas de interacción. Las publicaciones que incluían mujeres o la natación obtuvieron valores medios elevados en las interacciones, pero fueron infrarrepresentadas. Los resultados contribuyen a la literatura sobre el marketing digital en el ámbito de los eventos deportivos al explorar los atractivos de las publicaciones desde la perspectiva de los organizadores y de los usuarios y su impacto en la interacción del usuario. Palabras clave: Marketing digital, fan engagement, evento deportivo, medios sociales, análisis de contenido. TriaThlon posTs on insTagram: whaT are The mosT engaging appeals for user inTeracTions? publicaciones de TriaTlón en insTagram: ¿qué aTracTivos provocan mayor inTeracción al usuario? Carmen Sarah Einsle1 Jerónimo García-Fernández2 Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo1 1 Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain 2 Departamento de Educación Física y Deporte, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain Correspondence: Carmen Sarah Einsle [email protected] Short title: Triathlon appeals on Instagram Received: 11 September 2023 / Accepted: 17 January 2024 CULTURA, CIENCIA Y DEPORTE Cómo citar el artículo: Einsle, C. S., García-Fernández, J., & Escalera Izquierdo, G. (2024). Triathlon posts on Instagram: What are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte, 19(60), 2111. https://doi.org/10.12800/ccd. v19i60.2111 Esta obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional. Abstract A brand’s identity reflects the core values of a brand. Meanwhile the brand image are users’ associations with the brand. Therefore, to know users’ perceptions and to possibly obtain congruence between the brand identity and the brand image, it is immensely important to implement an efficient marketing strategy. Hence, this study’s main aim is to analyse the differences of image appeals, comparing the sports event identities and the sports events’ brand images and their effect on user interactions. A content analysis was conducted, with an overall sample of 629 Instagram images of five triathlons. An especially for this study developed codebook was employed. The most frequent appeals were people, athletes, urban surroundings, running as a sport, the start-/finish line as event momentum and concentration as an emotion with 90% showing a positive tone. Posts displaying people, emotions, a positive tone, and the start-/finishing line obtained higher interaction rates. Posts including women or swimming showed high mean values in interactions but were rather underrepresented. The results contribute to the literature on social media marketing within the field of sports events by exploring Instagram post appeals from the perspective of the organisers, and the users and their impact on user interaction. Keywords: Online marketing, fan engagement, sports event, social media, content analysis. 74 Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Carmen Sarah Einsle, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 Introduction With the overall digital transformation, social media marketing (SMM) has become increasingly important in the latest years and nowadays needs to be included in the integrated marketing communication (Rehman et al., 2022). Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, this phenomenon has been further strengthened (Mason et al., 2021). Businesses of all sizes use social media (SM) to connect with all their different stakeholders. Particularly for small and medium-sized businesses, SMM has become a popular tool, as the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and SM compatibility have shown to have a positive impact (Chatterjee & Kumar Kar, 2020). Ebrahim (2020) found that SMM basically is composed of three big dimensions, which are trendiness, customisation, and word-of-mouth (WOM) which influence directly brand loyalty. Especially in the sports industry, the opportunities for engagement for sports organisations and athletes alike, have become evident (Hayes, 2022). In sports consumption, it was also shown that the fear of missing out, makes fans engage in social media activities (Lee & Na, 2023). It has been demonstrated that SMM activities positively influence customer relationship quality and brand loyalty, being a strong predictor of commitment (Ibrahim & Aljarah, 2023). As sports events provide economic and non-economic benefits to host destinations (Redondo Castán et al., 2023; Sáez, 2019), these destinations need to understand sports events as influencing marketing strategies. Hence, not only in the case of destination management but also for the event organisations themselves it is essential to establish the right marketing strategies. Nevertheless, there is still a considerable research gap in studies of the brand image within the field of sports events (Martínez Cevallos et al., 2020). In sports management, marketing, and the tourism industry, Instagram has become a progressively popular social networking site (SNS), due to its great visible features. With its ample dissemination opportunities to a global audience, Instagram is a powerful marketing tool. Moreover, nowadays, it is the most popular social network among the younger generations of 16-34 years (Datareportal, 2023). The use of Instagram showed to be a popular and powerful tool to engage with users in the context of sports, presenting a medium where a sports brand can be created (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2018). Therefore, Instagram was chosen for the present study. Within media and communication research, content analysis is a widely demanded method (Schäfer & Vögele, 2021). While content analyses have been developed about the cocreation of destination image between tourists and sports events, or their co-branding aspects (Hansson, 2022; Morgan et al., 2021; Taberner et al., 2022; Taberner & Juncà, 2021), the authors could not find such a study concerning the differences between the sports event branding and the user-generated content (UGC). Since SNS have an increasingly significant role in a brand’s marketing communication (Wagner et al., 2017), as they are a constantly changing environment and due to the complexity of stakeholders of sports events, there is a need for empirical studies on sports event identity, sports event image, and their impact on user interaction. Brand identity As this study analyses Instagram posts based on a double perspective - the posts of the triathlon organisers and the UGC - it is pertinent to clarify the concepts of brand identity and brand image. Brand identity is traditionally defined as “a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create and maintain” (Aaker, 1996). It refers to a brand’s intention on how to be perceived by its consumers and embraces its mission, vision, and values (Konecnik Ruzzier & de Chernatony, 2013). Thus, the brand identity should communicate the core values of a brand (Bulovic & Seric, 2021). In the context of sports events, it was revealed that the purchase intention was mostly influenced by brand equity (Hsiao et al., 2021). Brand image The brand image is composed of the consumers’ brand associations of the attributes, benefits, and attitudes towards a brand, i.e., the consumers’ perceived meanings of a brand (Keller, 1993). Thus, a sports tourism event image can be defined as: “the mental representations sports tourism participants have about the organization, environment, physical activity, socialization, fulfilment, and emotional involvement with the event” (Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2006). The sports event image is a necessary condition for SM content sharing, satisfaction, and WOM and has also a positive effect on WOM, revisit, and loyalty intentions (Girish & Lee, 2019; Lianopoulos et al., 2022; Prado-Gasco et al., 2017). An understanding of the brand image is crucial to obtaining information about customers’ perceptions and helps in the development of a brand identity (Aaker, 2012). Instagram has shown to be a strategic SM platform to engage customers and to improve the brand image (Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2020). Even if the concept of destination image has been widely discussed in the literature, studies about sports event images are still scarce (Martínez Cevallos et al., 2020). The brand image shows how the brand is received, whereas the brand identity is the way how the organisation wants the brand to be perceived (Aaker, 2012). Consumers showed to be more committed when a brand is consistent with Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? 75 Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Carmen Sarah Einsle, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 the consumer’s image (Lorgnier et al., 2022) and the quality of a brand relationship has a positive influence on fan engagement (Lou et al., 2021). Therefore, once having analysed the sports events’ projected images and the UGC, it is necessary to compare any similarities and differences between the sports event identity and the sports event image. Post characteristics and appeals The appeals shown on SM posts are significant for the message perception and therefore they have a significant effect on the effectiveness of communication (Wagner et al., 2017). Research on Instagram posts has shown significant differences between destination images provided by events, organisers, and users (Taberner et al., 2022). This is especially important for marketing purposes, as different appeals influence the interaction and engagement of users (Rietveld et al., 2020). Nevertheless, research on the visual aspects of SM and its effects on engagement is still in its beginning and needs yet a deeper understanding (Rietveld et al., 2020; Schreiner et al., 2021). As mentioned above, research about brand images is still scarce in the context of sports events, and also there are only a few studies in this realm considering the importance of brand identity creation (Linsner et al., 2021). The lack of congruence between brand image and brand identity was found among sports clubs in Croatia (Bulovic & Seric, 2021). Nevertheless, the noteworthiness of brand congruence was emphasised in athlete branding (Linser et al., 2021). Hence, research on the impact of visual modalities of SM posts, especially in the field of sports events will help to give a more detailed comprehension of the correct management of the provided event identity and the difference to the actually perceived event image. The relevance of this study lies therefore in understanding the importance of the congruence between both. This study seeks to further investigate the analogies and differences of Instagram image appeals of two different triathlon organisers and the corresponding UGC, by comparing the key characteristics of the published posts. Thus, this study’s main aim is to analyse the differences of image appeals, comparing the sports event identities and the sports events’ brand images and their effect on user interactions. Therefore, the following research questions were elaborated: RQ1: What is the sports event identity projected by the appeals of posts on the organisers’ accounts? RQ2: What are the main sports event image appeals of the UGC? RQ3: What are the similarities and differences between the posted image appeals of the organisers’ contents and the UGC? RQ4: Which appeals gain the highest user interactions? Materials and Methods The present research study is based on a content analysis on Instagram. Content analysis is, within investigations of communication and media, a widely demanded method and more precisely, social media as a communication channel is increasingly the focus of research (Schäfer & Vögele, 2021). Data collection Through the investigators’ personal accounts, the selected Instagram pages, which are publicly available, were accessed and screenshots of the images to be analysed were taken. The data collection was conducted from the 22nd to the 24th of October 2022. For the analysis, the modality of triathlons was chosen, as it is a sport that combines three different mass sports disciplines, namely swimming, cycling, and running, which helps to represent a wider field. Two different triathlon organisers were chosen: ICAN Triathlon (ICAN) (Alicante and Gandía) and Mediterránea Triatlón (MTRI) (Alicante, Castellón and Valencia). All five analysed triathlons were based within the Valencian Community in Spain and celebrated in 2022. Images were included from the beginning of the registration opening of the first triathlon of each of the organisers. Nonstatic images, animations, and videos were excluded, as the objective of the study lies in image appeals and not in animated pictures or videos, which are outside the scope of this study as they might have different effects on user interaction. From posts including multiple images, only the first one was taken for analysis. In cases where it was necessary to clarify ambiguity, captions and hashtags were read to see if the images should be included, as proposed by Webb et al. (2017). Also, in case of any uncertainty if a publication should or not be included, the investigators jointly discussed the issue. Thereby, posts that referred to accounts or hashtags focussing on other triathlons were excluded. For each triathlon organiser, the most relevant hashtags were revealed, and images of those hashtags were captured (Table 1). 76 Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Carmen Sarah Einsle, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 Table 1 Accounts and hashtags used for the analysis ICAN Triathlon Mediterránea Triatlón Official Instagram account Hashtags Posts Official Instagram account Hashtags Posts @icantriathlonsp (125) #ICANAlicante 38 @mediterraneatriatlon (134) #mtrialicante 11 #icantriathlonalicante 4 #mtrivalència 13 #icangandia 110 #mtricastellón 24 #icantriathlongandia 25 #mtri2022 20 #ICANtriathlon 59 #medirarraneatriatlon 66 To avoid any selection bias, all images from both official accounts of the organisers were included in the analysis. The sample was 125 from ICAN and 134 from MTRI. Regarding the selected hashtags, also all images within the same time frame were captured and then a proportional sample to the volume of entries of each hashtag was randomly chosen and then included for the analysis, which was 134 images of the MTRI triathlons and 236 images of the ICAN triathlons. The final dataset was composed of 629 images (n = 629). Codebook For the elaboration of the codebook, prior studies in the field of sports, tourism and Instagram content were consulted. To examine the most suitable categories and appeals existing coding instruments were thoroughly reviewed (Ahmed et al., 2016; Ahrens et al., 2022; Aramendia-Muneta et al., 2021; Cowans, 2016; Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2020; Lacasse et al., 2019; Smith & Sanderson, 2015; Sun et al., 2021; Taberner et al., 2022; Taberner & Juncà, 2021; Wagner et al., 2017; Webb et al., 2017). After reviewing these coding instruments, the main categories were finally included from four studies (Ahmed et al., 2016; Ahrens et al., 2022; Smith & Sanderson, 2015; Taberner & Juncà, 2021). Those were adapted and several new categories were included which were appropriate to capture the relevant aspects of this study. As suggested by Taberner and Juncà (2021) the coding scheme includes three different dimensions: cognitive, affective and interactions. Except for the two interaction categories, all other variables were dichotomous variables. For coding, the visible features, as well as the interactions on the posts were analysed. The first author trained a coder repeatedly on the coding process, to ensure the correct coding of the diverse dimensions, categories, and attributes. To clarify the distinct categories, the primary features are explained in the following. For the type of shot, a maximum of one category, showing the focus of the photograph had to be chosen. In the category infographic, proper infographics, advertisements, no real photographs, pamphlets, etc. had to be included, whereas multi-image was chosen for more than one picture within the image like collages, etc. The category type included the kind of person shown, and N/A images that did not contain any person. Group was chosen for images with more than one person in the focus. Momentum refers to the moment of the event that is shown, being ‘before/after the race’ pictures showing elements concerning the event but not during racing and not showing the starting or finishing line e.g., warm-up, medal handout, etc. Other moment includes images without an event-specific moment. For pilot testing, a random sample of 20 images was analysed. Afterwards, where necessary, any discrepancies were reviewed and discussed to refine the coding scheme. The final resultant codebook is displayed in Table 2. Data analysis First, the reliability between coders was assessed. After coding all images, frequencies, sums, minimum and maximum values, means, and standard deviations were calculated. For the statistical analysis, IBM SPSS version 27.0.1 was used. To test the coders’ reliability, 20% randomly chosen of the total sample was used, as suggested by Neuendorf (2017). As the coding scheme for this study was newly developed, the measurement of reliability between the coders was particularly important, to confirm a collective understanding of categories and ensure a proficient level of measurement objectivity. Krippendorff’s Alpha was used to individually calculate the 39 categories of the instrument, as it defines and embraces diverse reliability coefficients (Hayes & Krippendorff, 2007). All categories showed coefficients α > .80 (Table 3), which means good intercoder reliability according to Krippendorff (2004). Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? 77 Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Carmen Sarah Einsle, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 Table 2 Codebook Selfie People Cognitive Type of shot Object Landscape Infographic   Multi-image Focus of the photo Type Athlete Nonathlete Staff N/A Number of people Solo Group No people Gender Female Male Both No gender Scenery Sea/Water Urban Rural No surroundings Sport Running Swimming Cycling No sports Prize elements Yes Momentum  Before/after race Starting/finishing line Racing   Other moments Emotions Fun, happiness Affective Concentración Pride No/other emotions Tone Positive Neutral   Negative Interaction Likes    Comments 78 Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Carmen Sarah Einsle, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 Table 3 Intercoder reliability Category Krippendorff’s α Category Krippendorff’s α Selfie 1.0 Running .9503 People .9748 Swimming .9748 Object 1.0 Cycling 1.0 Landscape 1.0 No sport .9265 Infographic .9588 Prize element .9246 Multi-image 1.0 Before/after race .8462 Athlete .9383 Start/finish line .8748 Nonathlete .8852 Racing .8831 Staff .9053 Other moments .8411 N/A .9083 Fun .8676 Solo .9842 Concentration .9143 Group .9835 Pride .8234 No people 1.0 No emotion .8489 Female .9055 Positive .8448 Male .9208 Neutral .8448 Both .8492 Negative N/A No gender 1.0 Likes 1.0 Sea .9503 Comments 1.0 Urban .9625  Rural .9383  No surrounding 1.0  Results Regarding the first two research questions, in Table 4, the results of the categorisation of the posts are shown. It should be noted that for some categories the percentage is more than 100%, as in some posts, more than one emphasised appeal was found. Considering the total frequencies and overall proportions of all analysed images, most posts included people (77.4%), who were mostly athletes (83.8%) in an urban surrounding (60.1%). Nearly half of the posts showed only men (47.9%). There was no noticeable difference between solo or group pictures, with both accounting for more than 40%. Considering the type of sports, the breakdown is as follows: the most shown sport was running (38.3%), followed by cycling (23.2%) and swimming (16.4%). As most posted momentum, racing during the event was found (37.4%). None of the posts was portrayed in a negative tone, whereas 90% of all posts showed a positive tone. Therefore, the appeal negative was excluded from further analyses. Regarding emotional features, fun (31.8%) and concentration (34%) were present in most of the published images. Giving response to the third research question, in the following the differences between the organisers’ contents and the UGC are analysed. The first analysed appeal was selfies, which was only found in the UGC, with a total proportion of sole 3%. Except for 2.5% of the UGC of ICAN, none of the other creators used mere landscape photographs. Multi-image was barely present in the overall sample, except for the UGC of ICAN (5.1%). A difference between ICAN and MTRI was noticed in the number of people present in the posts. While ICAN focussed 57.6% on just one person, MTRI included groups in nearly 70% of the images. Likewise, MTRI focussed more on females (41%), whereas ICAN posted over 55% of men. In MTRI another 20.1% was composed of both genders. The users of both triathlons posted more men than MTRI, but also more pictures of both genders than ICAN. In Figure 1 examples of the UGC are shown: a) and c) are examples of posts which obtained high interaction, while the infographic b) did not obtain much interaction. Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? 79 Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Carmen Sarah Einsle, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 Table 4 Post categorisation ICAN (%a) #ican (%a) MTRI (%a) #mtri (%a)Proportion of total (%) Total frequency (N) Selfie 06.4 03.0 3 19 People 82.4 69.1 84.3 80.6 77.4 487 Object 4.8 6.4 3.0 4.5 4.9 31 Landscape 0 2.5 0 0 1 6 Infographic 12.0 10.6 12.7 11.2 11.4 72 Multi-image 0.8 5.1 00.7 2.2 14 Athlete 89.6 76.3 88.1 87.3 83.8 527 Nonathlete 0.8 11.0 3.7 5.2 6.2 39 Staff 7.2 3.8 11.2 2.2 5.7 63 No focus 8.0 17.4 6.7 9.0 11.4 72 Solo 57.6 55.9 24.6 39.6 46.1 290 Group 34.4 21.7 68.7 51.5 42.6 268 No people 8.0 16.9 6.7 9.0 11.3 71 Female 26.4 16.5 41.0 23.9 25.3 159 Male 55.2 53.4 31.3 47.8 47.9 301 Both 10.4 11.0 20.1 17.9 14.3 90 No gender 8.0 19.1 7.5 10.4 12.6 79 Sea 20.0 16.5 16.4 20.9 18.1 114 Urban 60.0 60.2 68.7 51.5 60.1 378 Rural 15.2 16.9 13.4 17.9 16.1 101 No surroundings 19.2 19.5 14.9 17.9 18.1 114 Running 53.6 30.9 41.0 34.3 38.3 241 Swimming 13.6 11.0 19.4 25.4 16.4 103 Cycling 21.6 28.8 20.1 17.9 23.2 146 No sports 11.2 31.4 18.7 23.1 22.9 144 Prize 8.0 13.1 29.1 14.2 13.8 87 Before/after 7.2 17.8 16.4 18.7 15.6 98 Start-/finish line 36.8 20.8 30.6 21.6 26.1 164 Racing 45.6 24.6 44.8 44.8 37.4 235 Other moment 11.2 38.1 8.2 14.9 21.5 135 Fun 32.0 28.8 32.8 35.8 31.8 200 Concentration 39.2 26.3 38.8 38.1 34 214 Pride 22.4 21.6 20.1 13.4 19.7 124 No/other emotion 9.6 25.8 10.4 15.7 17.2 108 Positive 92.8 83.9 94.0 94.0 90 566 Neutral 7.2 16.1 6.0 6.0 10 63 Negative 0 0 0 0 0 0 Note. a % within creator. 80 Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Carmen Sarah Einsle, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 Figure 1 Examples of UGC #ican: prize element, pride, positive tone; b) #ican: infographic, no emotions, neutral tone; c) #mtri: start-/finish line, fun, pride, positive tone. In Figure 2 examples of the event organisers’ posts are displayed. The first picture posted by MTRI (Figure 2, d) obtained high interaction, whereas the mere objective focussed picture without any kind of emotion of ICAN (Figure 2, e) did not receive any comments. Figure 2 Examples of organisers’ content d) MTRI: Swimming, start-/finish line, fun; e) ICAN: Object, cycling, no emotion. It is noticeable that in the UGC of ICAN, 11% were nonathletes, whereas the total proportion of posts of nonathletes was only 6.2%. Nevertheless, also in the UGC of MTRI, nonathletes had a higher percentage than in the posts of the organiser. Staff was more often displayed by the organisers than by the users. In contrast, users posted more content with no focus on people than the organisers. The greatest difference between the organisers themselves was found in the appeals solo, group, female, male, and prize. Considering the type of sports displayed, running stood out universally, but it had a peculiarly higher presence in the organisers’ content (ICAN 53.6%; MTRI 41.0%) than in the UGC. Swimming was displayed above average in the UGC of MTRI (25.4%). The UGC of ICAN displayed cycling (28.8%) and no sports (31.4%) above average. The prize element was mostly shown in MTRI. Regarding the event’s momentum, the organisers and the UGC of MTRI displayed most posts while racing, with both in about 45% of their images. In change, the UGC of ICAN only displayed 24.6% while racing. A difference between the organisers and the UGC was found in the start-/finish line, where the organisers accounted both over 30%, whereas the UGC only about 20%. Focussing on the affective dimension, slight differences in fun were found. The UGC of ICAN had less content showing concentration than the average of the other creators and the UGC of MTRI showed less pride (13.4%). Both organisers only Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? 81 Triathlon posts on Instagram: what are the most engaging appeals for user interactions? Carmen Sarah Einsle, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Gregorio Escalera Izquierdo Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte | AÑO 2024 | VOL. 19 | NUM. 60 | 2111 | España | ISSN 1696-5043 had approximately 10% of their posts with no/other emotion, thus showing values below the total average of all images. Surpassing this average, the UGC of ICAN had over one-fourth of posts with no/other emotions. As for the tone, most of the posts were positive. While in the case of MTRI, both the organisers and the user accounted for the same percentage, in the UGC of ICAN more neutral content was found than in the organisers’ posts. Table 5 Interaction distribution according to attributes Likes M(SD)Comments M(SD) Selfie 1,118 58.84 (49.72) 71 3.74 (4.56) People 43,246 88.80 (87.14) 2,965 6.09 (17.74) Object 2,419 78.03 (94.87) 79 2.55 (3.73) Landscape 239 39.00 (32.72) 71.17 (1.17) Infographic 4,538 63.03 (90.51) 2,689 37.35 (129.18) Multi-image 636 45.43 (26.76) 45 3.21 (3.93) Athlete 46,057 87.39 (87.82) 5,582 10.59 (51.52) Nonathlete 3,252 83.38 (84.06) 165 4.23 (4.94) Staff 3,180 88.33 (101.94) 758 21.06 (109.25) No focus 4,075 56.60 (73.91) 181 2.51 (4.46) Solo 24,264 83.67 (91.98) 1,790 6.17 (10.76) Group 24,006 89.57 (82.07) 3,911 14.59 (71.24) No people 3,926 55.30 (73.60) 155 2.18 (3.49) Female 17,429 109.62 (105.80) 2,293 14.42 (67.58) Male 22,357 74.28 (74.80) 1,957 6.50 (22.02) Both 7,946 88.29 (85.33) 1,402 15.58 (76.52) No gender 4,464 56.51 (71.66) 204 2.58 (4.39) Sea 10,438 91.56 (95.85) 780 6.84 (26.37) Urban 35,340 93.49 (89.92) 3,702 9.79 (42.92) Rural 6,035 59.75 (52.01) 365 3.61 (7.27) No surroundings 7,726 67.77 (84.71) 1,691 14.83 (78.42) Running 22,341 92.70 (79.39) 2,504 10.39 (49.68) Swimming 9,388 91.15 (98.27) 1,932 18.76 (84.16) Cycling 10,738 73.55 (76.41) 939 6.43 (21.73) No sports 10,040 69.72 (94.17) 506 3.51 (5.74) Prize 8,186 94.09 (73.34) 674 7.75 (27.55) Before/after 8,366 85.37 (77.41) 499 5.09 (7.77) Start-/finish line 18,174 110.15 (111.43) 3,345 20.27 (85.35) Racing 17,287 73.56 (62.79) 1,403 5.97 (25.27) Other moment 8,645 64.04 (84.69) 621 4.60 (14.04) Fun 17,996 89.98 (101.09) 1,933 9.67 (35.31) Concentration 17,301 80.85(76.60) 2,286 10.68 (57.81) Pride 12,950 104.44 (89.89) 1,728 13.94 (63.90) No/other emotion 5,851 54.18 (64.63) 339 3.14 (6.59) Positive 49,375 82.98 (86.41) 5,718 10.10 (49.76) Neutral 2,821 44.78 (50.79) 138 2.19 (4.44) Giving response to the last research question, in Table 5 the sums of likes and comments, means and SDs according to the post appeals can be found. ICAN triathlons reached a total of 28,336 likes and a mean of 78.49 (SD = 87.75) of which 11,049 were given to publications of the organiser and the rest to UGC. MTRI triathlon accumulated 23,860 likes with a mean of 89.03 (SD = 84.35), with 13,861 likes on posts of the organiser and the remaining on UGC. As for comments, ICAN