#4899. Destinations social media communication and emotions: An investigation of visit intentions, word-of-mouth and travelers’ facially expressed emotions

August 2026publication date
Proposal available till 02-06-2025
4 total number of authors per manuscript0 $

The title of the journal is available only for the authors who have already paid for
Journal’s subject area:
Business and International Management;
Strategy and Management;
Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management;
Marketing;
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Abstract:
Much research has been done on travelers’ emotions and behavioral intentions during the visit stage and the post-visit stage. This paper, however, investigates the importance of emotions in the pre-visit stage in social media communication and how they influence travelers’ intention to visit and word-of-mouth communication. Two laboratory experiments (n = 211 and n = 137) and a field study (n = 270) were conducted in a tourism destination in the midst of the Alps to test the proposed research model. Findings reveal that a smiling (vs. non-smiling) endorser in a destinations social media post more positively influences travelers’ intention to visit and word-of-mouth than a non-smiling endorser. A marketer-generated post further reinforces the positive effect of a smiling endorser on intention to visit, while for a user-generated post, the smile does not matter. Emotional contagion is found as underlying mechanism for these effects. Implications for destination marketers and research are outlined.
Keywords:
Communicators source; Destination advertising; EmFACS; Endorsers emotion display; Pre-visit stage; Social media communication success

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