Abstract

Due to information overload and the homogenization of tourism experiences, destinations need to stand out from competitors by engaging tourists early on from the pre-trip stage. Pre-consumption experiences created by marketing messages are especially important for the tourism industry due to the intangibility and high perceived risk of experiential products. The persuasive power of storytelling has increasingly been recognized by tourism practitioners as storytelling can be used to communicate with tourists the values and attractiveness of the destination while creating a sense of exploration and emotional connections. However, few efforts have been made to understand the persuasion process and outcomes of storytelling in tourism research. Tourism practitioners generally have difficulty understanding and measuring the impact of storytelling. Moreover, studies are inconsistent concerning the comparative effectiveness of storytelling and fact-based messages. This study, therefore, aims to examine the comparative effectiveness of storytelling and fact-based messages in marketing different types of tourism experiences, the effect of message format on tourists' transportation, emotions, attitudes toward the destination, and behavioral intentions as well as the mediating effect of transportation on the persuasion process. To address the study purpose, a conceptual framework was proposed to demonstrate the relationships among message format, transportation, and related outcomes (i.e., emotions, attitudes toward the destination, and behavioral intentions). A web-based between-subjects experimental design was conducted, and data were collected through MTurk online panel. Anderson & Gerbing's two-step approach was used to assess the proposed model and hypotheses. The study results suggest that message format significantly influences the level of transportation experienced by the message recipients, with storytelling messages generating significantly higher levels of transportation than fact-based messages. Transportation significantly influences emotions, attitudes toward the destination, and behavioral intentions (i.e., the intention to collect information about the destination, the intention to recommend the destination, and the visit intention). More importantly, the study showed that transportation is a key mediator of the relationships between message format and persuasion outcomes. This study contributes to the current body of narrative persuasion research by extending the research context to destination marketing and the experience industry in general. The study findings forward the knowledge on the impacts of message format on tourists' narrative transportation, emotions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions as well as the effect of transportation on the persuasion process. While providing important theoretical implications, this study responds to the recent rise of stories in tourism practice and offers valuable practical implications for tourism practitioners in designing effective marketing communication messages.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2022

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Fyall, Alan

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

Rosen College of Hospitality Management

Degree Program

Hospitality Management

Identifier

CFE0009285; DP0026889

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026889

Language

English

Release Date

August 2027

Length of Campus-only Access

5 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Campus-only Access)

Location

Rosen College of Hospitality Management

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Restricted to the UCF community until August 2027; it will then be open access.

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