Take me there! Exploring the intervening effect of consumption vision in the destination marketing video - place image nexus

Abstract

Social media-based immersive technologies have a significant influence on the ability of the consumer to visualise and vicariously experience tourism as a service offering. Our study explores the transformative influence of celebrity star power via short video destination marketing on tourist cognition (perception and recall via consumption vision) and conation (place image formation) regarding South Africa. A quantitative cross-sectional deductive study was conducted. Data generated from a pre-recruited online panel sample of n = 592 American consumers as potential tourists were modelled and analysed via Partial Least-Squares – Structural Equation Modelling. Further gender-based group analysis was conducted via Partial Least Squares - Multi-Group Analysis. Based on the Stimuli-Organism-Response theory, our primary findings indicated that celebrity influence via online short destination marketing video content stimulated the consumption vision of tourists. Subsequently, the influence of celebrity-infused short destination marketing video content, mediated by consumption vision, influenced the place image formation of potential tourists. Moreover, gender differences were established – consumption vision positively moderated the effect of celebrity influence on place image formation in males, whereas it did not influence females. Our findings support academic inquiry into the value of infusing celebrities in short destination marketing communications and their subsequent impact on the psyche of tourists and place image formation, which remains nascent from a Global South perspective.

Keywords

• celebrity influence
• short video marketing
• consumption vision
• gender
• place image