Annals of Tourism Research 45 (2014) 6376

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Annals of Tourism Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures

Tourist mental-imagery processing: Attention and arousal

Sung-Bum Kim a,1, Dae-Young Kim a,, Paul Bolls b,2
a
b

University of Missouri, USA

Missouri School of Journalism, USA

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 18 April 2013
Revised 23 September 2013
Accepted 4 December 2013

Keywords:
Arousal
Attention
Heart rate
Mental imagery processing
Skin conductance

a b s t r a c t
This study aimed to delineate how individuals process two types of
advertising communications (i.e., video versus high-imagery audio
advertisements) in terms of mental imagery processing. Participants heart rate for attention and skin conductance for arousal
were measured during exposure to both types of ads. Self-report
responses were also obtained after exposure to each ad. There
was no difference between the two types of ads in the resulting
heart rates, while arousal measured using skin conductance was
higher while watching videos ads than arousal while hearing
high-imagery audio ads. This study also found self-report
responses were greater or more favorable after video ads than after
high-imagery audio ads.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Advertisers stimulate imagery by employing a variety of imagery-eliciting strategies. Given the
wide range of narrative and visual communications commonly employed by the tourism industry, travel organizations and businesses may be questioning how tourists perceive and respond to their
advertisements. Destination choice is inuenced by the mental images a tourist forms; such images
can be based either on his or her expected experiences or on mass-media channels depicting the destination, or both (Pan & Li, 2011). When tourists engage in mental imagery, they form certain conceptions of a destination in their minds (Lee & Gretzel, 2012) and may become more likely to consider
visiting the destination. Following this premise, mental imagery is stimulated by advertisers using pictures, words, sound effects, and, more literally, instructions to imagine (Babin & Burns, 1997).
One of the foremost duties of destination marketing organizations is the creation of messages that
arouse positive destination images in tourists minds and motivate them to visit (Huang, Cai, & Ismail,
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 573 884 7185; fax: +1 573 882 4114.
1
2

E-mail addresses: sk7w2@mail.missouri.edu (S.-B. Kim), kimdae@missouri.edu (D.-Y. Kim), bollsp@missouri.edu (P. Bolls).
Tel.: +1 573 884 7185; fax: +1 573 882 4114.
Tel.: +1 573 884 0170; fax: +1 573 884 5400.

0160-7383/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2013.12.005

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2010). For destination marketers, there exists a great practical need to identify the features of advertising messages that can most effectively persuade consumers ultimately to visit a destination. For
measuring the effectiveness of messages, numerous advertising and communication studies have
established viewers attitudes on responses to imagery evoked in advertisements (e.g., Harben &
Kim, 2010). In terms of measurement, most advertising scholars have investigated the end result
accruing after exposure to the ads (Barnes, 2010).
Recently, however, some advertising scholars have begun to focus on what happens during mediachannel exposure and on how individuals process mediated messages, which are continuously changing over time. A disparity exists between the wealth of scholarship examining post-viewing results
and the relative paucity of literature documenting the cognitive and emotional aspects of the media-exposure process itself. Many of these studies based on post-exposure results examine the effects
of advertising; yet, as these studies do not address mental processing during exposure, the internal
mechanisms that produce these effects remain obscure. While some advertising scholars are beginning to investigate these mental processes, no such efforts have been undertaken in the context of
tourisma eld particularly dependent on imagery-laden advertisementsusing psychophysiological
measures. As a result, the crucial psychological mechanics that bring about mental effects from destination advertising remain unknown.
In regard to message effects, many studies in the communication and advertising area have examined the relationship between the characteristics of media messages and the cognitive and emotional
processes of the human brain during media exposure. Advertising researchers also have investigated
the relationships between audience members emotional and cognitive responses to advertising messages. This study simultaneously measured respondents heart rates, skin conductance, and self-report
data to explore the process of how media messages persuade potential tourists. Hence, processes
occurring inside the brainthat heretofore have not been examinedhave at last been investigated
through this study.
As investigations of cognitive and emotional processing during destination advertisements using
psychophysiological measures have been sorely lacking, this study compares video ads (i.e., the combination of motion picture and text that evoke mental images) to high-imagery audio ads (i.e., solely
audio instructions, which instruct participants to form their own mental images during exposure to
ads) in terms of mental-imagery processing. More specically, the purposes of this study are to investigate the effects of communication-evoked imagery processing on individuals responses (i.e., attention, arousal, attitude, and behavioral intentions) to video versus high-imagery audio advertisements.
This research, therefore, is anticipated to advance knowledge in the tourism eld and open the door to
avenues of exploration about the mental processing of mediated messages evoked by mass media.
Literature review
Mental-imagery processing
Mental-imagery processing refers to the psychological process engaged in by listeners during exposure to ads. Mental images often come into play in daily life. For instance, a hotel ad can lead consumers
to imagine the comfortable bed or delicious meals conjured up by descriptions contained in advertisements. Certainly, a consumers mental image of a tourism product can facilitate purchasing decisions
(Walters, Sparks, & Herington, 2007). The relevant studies have stated that viewers cognitive, emotional, attitudinal and behavioral responses may differ when they are exposed to different ad formats
(e.g., Yagci, Biswas, & Dutta, 2009). According to Paivios (1986) dual coding theory, messages individuals
hear or view will be encoded and stored in memory by two separate mental systems or codes: the verbal
code and the visual code.
Video versus high-imagery audio ads
Communication scholars have long studied the effects of advertisements that create mental images
in viewers minds as they do external information searches (Rossiter, 1982). The main forms of
external stimuli are known to stimulate mental imagery, such as the imagination of experiencing

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65

the advertised destination. Relevant studies have shown that when executing an image-viewing task,
humans depend mainly on a library of visual information (text-image mixed design), which is directly
connected to the inner process of perception (Hsieh & Chen, 2011). Bone and Ellen (1992) concluded
that production features of ads that can evoke imagery processing include direct instructions on what
to imagine, descriptive or concrete language, and sound effects. High-imagery audio ads are usually
comprised of sound effects and descriptive-language elements. On the other hand, low-imagery audio
ads are those that do not contain any sounds and feature less descriptive language. Written words in
video ads can express to readers what an advertised product is about.
Attention and cardiac activity
Attention is closely related to the degree of cognitive processing allocated to encoding information
in short-term memory (e.g., Leshner, Bolls, & Wise, 2011). Attention is the rst processing link after
message exposure in cognitive processing. Given the capacity limitations of the cognitive system, consumers attention is necessarily assumed to be selective (Johnston & Dark, 1986). Audience attention
can and must be elicited by the features of the message.
Imagery in ads demonstrates the vital role played by specic cognitive processes related to
attention and memory. Imagery processing leads to a larger allocation of attention because it
engages relevant long-term memories when the audience is exposed to imagery ads (Bolls & Lang,
2003).
In this study, the reexive elicitation of attention is measured via the message recipients heart
rate during exposure to content. Heart rate has been used to reect cognitive mental processing
(e.g., Potter & Bolls, 2012). Attention, meaning the allocation of more cognitive effort, has often
been operationalized using heart rate (e.g., Potter, Callison, Chambers, & Edison, 2008). For example, heart rate has been noted to be the most valid means of indexing attention related to cognitive resources being allocated to encoding versus memory retrieval (Potter & Bolls, 2012).
However, heart rate cannot simply be conated with attention. Psychologists often use heart-rate
change as an indicator of valence (e.g., Cacioppo, Berntson, Larsen, Poehlmann, & Ito, 2000). Bellman and his colleagues (2011) have pointed out that measurements of individual heart rates do
not always correlate with psychological arousal. Media-psychology researchers suggest arousal
can be a strong predictor of attention and memory (Bolls, Wise, & Bradley, 2012), and skin conductance is considered a nonintrusive way of measuring arousal (e.g., Gangadharbatla, Bradley, &
Wise, 2013).
For the purposes of this study, heart rate can be used to measure attention over time as demonstrated by cardiac activity. This is because heart rate is expected to be faster during exposure when
individuals pay more attention specically to retrieval of information used in creating and sustaining
mental images (e.g., Bolls, 2002). The relationship between heart rate and the two types of ads is
inconclusive. First, some previous studies reported that heart rate is faster for high-imagery audio
ads than for video ads. Cardiac acceleration during exposure to high-imagery audio ads reects an increase in cognitive resources allocated to retrieving information already stored in memory (Potter &
Bolls, 2012). These ads activate both the viewers verbal and image systems, leading to more in-depth
and purposeful cognitive processing of the ads (Goossens, 1994). The relevant studies have also stated
that imagery processing leads to a larger allocation of attention (i.e., faster heart rate) because it engages relevant long-term memories when the audience is exposed to high-imagery advertisements
(e.g., Bolls & Lang, 2003). On the other hand, Edell and Staelin (1983) argued that when a message
in text format is read, the individual draws on prior schema or knowledge to encode the information
in that text. They concluded that the individual pays more attention to text-based ads than highimagery audio ads by comparing new information with previously stored criteria that are normally
used to evaluate alternative brands. Based on the foregoing discussion, the following hypothesis is
advanced:
H1. An individuals heart rate will be different during exposure to high-imagery destination audio
advertisements compared to the rate during exposure to destination video advertisements.

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Arousal
Arousal is dened as a physiological or psychological state of beingi.e., excited or activated. Arousal-producing information is better remembered than neutral information (e.g., Cahill, Prins, Weber, &
McGaugh, 1994). Measurement of arousal using skin conductance has provided useful insights in the
research of persuasive media messages. Skin conductance has been recognized as a valid measure of
automatic-nervous-system activity in human beings and has been shown to index emotional reaction
during the processing of messages (e.g., Potter & Choi, 2006).
Previous research has questioned which advertising stimulus is the most effective in producing
mental imagery and emotional/affective responses to the advertised products (e.g., Walters & Sparks,
2008). Lang (2000) has stated that different types of advertisement messages can elicit different arousal states from an audience; arousal in response to mediated messages can also be different according
to the type of advertisement (Sparks, Chuang, & Chung, 2013). The relevant studies have found arousal
data obtained by skin conductance to be different in response to differing message types (e.g., Lang,
Dillon, & Dong, 1995). Thus, the following hypothesis, in two parts, is advanced:
H2. An individuals arousal will be different for high-imagery destination audio advertisements
compared to arousal following destination video advertisements.
H2a. An individuals arousal measured by skin conductance will be different for high-imagery destination audio advertisements compared to arousal following destination video advertisements.
H2b. An individuals arousal measured by self-report will be different for high-imagery destination
audio advertisements compared to arousal following destination video advertisements.
Attitudes toward the ad
The attitude toward the ad and behavioral intentions comprise the main outcome variables in
many studies of advertising effectiveness. Mental imagery has been shown to have a positive inuence
on consumer attitudes. Imagery processing has been found to have generally positive effects on advertising outcomes, such as those involving attitudes. In general, prior studies have demonstrated that
high-imagery audio ads positively inuenced general attitudes toward the ads (e.g., Miller & Marks,
1997). The relevant studies have found that imagery-laden audio advertisements foster more positive
general attitudes than those raised by video ads (e.g., Unnava & Burnkrant, 1991). On the other hand,
other researchers have long held that visual elements in ads can inuence a consumers attitude (e.g.,
Rossiter & Percy, 1980). Thus, this leads to the third hypothesis:
H3. An individuals attitude toward high-imagery destination audio advertisements will be different
from the attitude toward destination video advertisements.
Behavioral intentions
Social-psychological research ndings on the relationship between ad-induced imagery processing
and individuals behavioral intentions are plentiful. Their evidence has suggested that ad-based imagery can be effective in shaping individuals behavioral responses. Jeong (2008) suggested that behavioral intentions are greater than those generated by verbal advertisements. On the other hand, in the
high- and low-imagery ads study by Bolls and Muehling (2007), along with other studies on point (e.g.,
Bolls, 2002), it is clear that exposure to high-imagery ads resulted in more favorable behavioral intentions to purchase targeted brands. The result of behavioral-response assessments in advertisement
types is not without controversy. We can argue that an individuals behavioral intentions are also different for high-imagery destination audio advertisements as compared to destination video advertisements. Consequently, this study has developed the following hypothesis:

S.-B. Kim et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 45 (2014) 6376

67

H4. An individuals behavioral intentions will be different for high-imagery destination audio
advertisements compared to destination video advertisements.

Methodology
Experimental design and analyses
The study used an analysis of variance (ANOVA) within-subjects design, with a 2  3  60 (ad type
[video or high-imagery audio]  advertisements  time) repeated-measures design for the purpose of
investigating the hypothesized relationships (i.e., psychophysiological data and self-report data). Video ads and imagery-laden audio ads used the within-subject factors and ads (video/high-imagery,
three advertisements of each type) used the repeated factors. We analyzed the heart-rate data by
including a time factor, which consisted of the 60-second length of each ad. Since psychophysiological
responses occur across time beginning at the onset of a stimulus, time was included as a variable in
the analysis (Cacioppo, Tassinary, & Berntson, 2000). All physiological data were averaged across
one-second intervals, eventually yielding approximately 30 time points per message for data analysis.
They were collected in milliseconds and averaged over a period of time. Prior to analysis, dependentvariable data were examined for missing data and outliers. Periods of bad data were replaced with the
mean of that period. After re-organizing the heart-rate data, the cleaned physiological data and selfreported questionnaires were coded and converted into the SPSS program. All the psychophysiological
data sets were then analyzed for changes compared to a baseline recorded during the ve seconds
prior to exposure to each stimulus.
To decrease the errors between individual differences, psychophysiological measurements and a
within-subject design were utilized. As the relevant studies have stated (e.g., Bolls & Muehling,
2007), the capacity to control for the confounding variable of individual differenceachieved by using
each individual as his or her own control groupis the major advantage to a within-subject repeatedmeasures design. Previous studies have supported using a random assignment of stimuli in experimental design (e.g., Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002) to augment the within-subject design. In this
study, researchers anticipated the possibility of respondents guessing future exposures (by reecting
on past ones) and controlled for it by sending stimulus messages in a random order.
As a manipulation check for ad format, participants were asked to classify their impressions as follows: This advertisement brought to mind many mental images concerning the advertised location,
Very few mental images came to my mind during this advertisement, and A lot of mental images
came to my mind during this advertisement. The questionnaire included descriptions (such as vague,
vivid, unclear, dull, sharp, weak, intense, fuzzy, and well-dened) on a seven-point Likert-type scale
(1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) adjusted from the Babin and Burns (1997) imagery-processing scale. Cronbachs a ranged from .715 to .869 as shown in Table 1. For the self-reported survey, the
scales were found to be internally reliable (Cronbachs a >.70).
Attention
The psychophysiological data of the participants were collected as milliseconds between heart
beats; the computer program then converted these data into heart beats per minute. Data were collected and time-locked to the exposure to each stimulus message. Heart rate, which previous research
(Potter & Bolls, 2012) has validated as a psychophysiological indicator of resources allocated to encoding, was recorded by placing electrodes with electrode gel on each participants right and left forearm.
One sensor was placed on the left wrist; another was placed on the underside of the left arm just below the elbow, and the last one was placed in the same spot on the right arm.
Arousal
Arousal was measured in two different ways. First, in the study of persuasive media messages, a
psychophysiological measure was used to assess the arousal dimension of emotion by measuring skin

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Table 1
Reliabilities for the self-reported survey.
High-imagery audio ads

Alpha

Video ads

Alpha

Imagery processing

Audio ads1
Audio ads2
Audio ads3

.797
.869
.824

Video ads1
Video ads2
Video ads3

.797
.815
.715

Attitude toward the ads

Audio ads1
Audio ads2
Audio ads3

.962
.953
.973

Video ads1
Video ads2
Video ads3

.934
.920
.929

Behavioral intentions

Audio ads1
Audio ads2
Audio ads3

.866
.888
.889

Video ads1
Video ads2
Video ads3

.926
.945
.869

conductance. Skin conductance is measured by placing two standard AG/AGCL electrodes on the participants upturned palm after it has been wiped with distilled water to control for hydration levels
across participants. The skin-conductance electrodes were placed on the palmar surface of individuals
non-dominant hands with electrode gel (Bradley & Lang, 2000). One sensor was placed on the thick
part of the palm near the wrist, and another sensor was placed adjacent to it, down from the pinky
nger.
In addition, the arousal dimension ranges from calm to highly excited and also reects the intensity
of the affective valence (Bradley, 2000). The scale begins with the single self-reporting question, How
calm or excited did you feel while viewing this advertisement? Participants were asked to mark their
assessment on a nine-point semantic-differential scale using endpoints of extremely excited and extremely calm. Participants rated their arousal level immediately after each advertisement.
Attitudes toward the ads
Standard measures of attitudes toward the ads were used to assess participants attitudinal responses and were measured using two scales. Participants were asked to express their overall attitude
toward each ad (i.e., cognitive and affective components), using a scale with ve items on a sevenpoint semantic-differential scale containing two bipolar adjectives such as interesting to boring, persuasive to not at all persuasive, appealing to unappealing, likeable to unlikable, and dynamic to dull.
Cronbachs a for this data ranged from .920 to .973 as is shown in Table 1.
Behavioral intentions
Behavioral intentions served as the nal dependent variable in this experimental design. Three
questions were included to measure behavioral intentions on a seven-point Likert-type scale, ranging
from 1 (very unlikely) to 7 (very likely). Items included one indicator related to information search,
one indicator pertaining to recommendations to friends and relatives, and one indicator related to
intention to visit. Cronbachs a ranged from .866 to .945, as can be seen in Table 1.
Sample design
Forty-two college students participated in the study. Students drawn from two hospitality-management courses and one graduate journalism course at a large Midwestern university were recruited.
They were recruited via convenience sampling procedures as has typically been done by experimental
researchers (e.g., Thorson, Wicks, & Leshner, 2012; Walters et al., 2007). The advantage of this studys
design is that it needs fewer participants to obtain adequate statistical power and enables a more sensitive test of the effects of independent variables on dependent variables (Grabe & Westley, 2003). In
terms of utilizing a student sample in such an experimental design, prior numerous studies in the
mental-imagery-processing literature using psychophysiological measures have employed collegestudent samples (e.g., Leshner et al., 2011; Wang, 2003). Additionally, the goal of this study was to observe the processing of external message elements on mental imagery using an experimental design;

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69

it did not attempt to describe occurrences of a phenomenon in a national population (Lee & Gretzel,
2012). Thus, a college-student sample and the given sample size were deemed appropriate.
Stimuli
The stimulus messages consist of destination advertisements downloaded from YouTube and from
the Pure Michigan website (www.michigan.org), a Michigan-based destination marketing organization. Michigan was chosen as the locale of focus because it is a U.S. state that increasingly conducts
marketing activities to attract potential tourists. Michigans destination marketing organizations are
actively using traditional media to promote their state. Through the investigators considerations,
the selected stimulus messages were 60-second advertisements. The narratives emotional tone was
controlled for a confounding variable. These advertisements offered destination information and
images of Michigan. The experiment and procedures were controlled by MediaLab software (Jarvis,
2006). High-imagery audio ads require viewers to process verbally (black screen), while video ads contain visuals with text for a description. These two ads (both video and high-imagery audio versions)
contain the same background music, and the stimuli used a randomized order.
Apparatus and procedures
Before conducting the experiment, this research piloted a pretest with graduate students to gain
feedback on the experimental design. This experiment took place in the universitys experimental research laboratory. A researcher was present at all times during the procedure. Five trained investigators were involved in this study, with one investigator assigned to each participant when he or she
arrived at the laboratory. After the trained investigators obtained informed-consent forms, participants were seated in a comfortable chair in front of a television monitor with a mouse and keyboard.
Investigators explained the psychophysiological sensors for measuring heart rate and skin conductance while the electrodes were attached. During the procedure, investigators also kindly asked about
study participants physical conditions. Investigators provided a brief general description for participants better understanding of the experiment. Finally, all participants answered the same set of questions on demographic factors.
Participants viewed a 60-second video of one unrelated topic so that investigators could check
whether their psychophysiological data were being correctly collected and converted from raw data
to numbers. Each participants heart rate and skin conductance were measured during each ad using
the standard AG/AGCL electrodes. Participants were prompted to ask the researcher questions if they
did not understand any part of the instructions. Participants controlled the pace of the experiment by
striking a key to advance to the next message after they had answered questions related to a viewed
message.
The investigators monitored participants progress from a different room via computer monitors.
The computer program controlled the presentation of instructions, stimulus messages (i.e., the six
ads), and questionnaire items (i.e., attitude and behavior intentions) during the experiment. For the
attitude and behavioral intentions, questions were presented one at a time on the TV screen and participants answered by clicking the mouse. The participants were then disconnected from the psychophysiological equipment. The entire procedure for each participant lasted approximately an hour.
Results
Sample characteristics
Table 2 reports the demographic prole of the whole sample on such characteristics as gender and
prior experience with Michigan. There were 32 women and 10 men. The subjects were sorted according to university-matriculation year; the largest category was the fourth-year student group (31.0%),
followed by graduates (28.6%), rst-year students (16.7%), third-year students (11.9%), second-year
students (9.5%), and others (2.4%). Twenty-three participants identied themselves as white or

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Table 2
Description of survey respondents (N = 42).
Variable

Frequency

Female
Male

32
10

76.2
23.8

7
4
5
13
12
1

16.7
9.5
11.9
31.0
28.6
2.3

White/Caucasian
Asian/Pacic Islander
Hispanic
Black/African American

23
17
1
1

54.7
40.5
2.4
2.4

Never
Once or more

33
9

78.6
21.4

Gender

Year
University
University
University
University
Graduates
Other

students
students
students
students

(Year
(Year
(Year
(Year

1)
2)
3)
4)

Ethnicity

Travel to State of Michigan

Caucasian, seventeen as Asian, one as black or African American, and one as Hispanic. Thirty-three
participants out of forty-two reported no travel experience to the State of Michigan.
Manipulation check for ad format
For ad type, self-reported imagery processing was signicantly higher for video advertisements
(M = 5.23, SD = .11) compared to high-imagery audio ads (M = 4.20, SD = .13). This indicates that the
manipulation of imagery in this experiment was successful because the ads coded as high-imagery
audio and video ads during the pretest were rated differently on self-reported imagery processing
by experiment participants.
Hypotheses testing
Before evaluating hypothesis 1 in terms of psychophysiological responses, the responses of four
participants to the heart-rate measure were discarded due to computer malfunction. As shown in
Fig. 1, this study then found that there was no statistically signicant difference in attention on these
two different types of imagery-evoking ads. Ultimately, the heart-rate data did not support hypothesis
1 (p > .05).
In terms of hypothesis 2a, the video ads were the most arousing, as Fig. 2 shows in the signicant
advertisements type  arousal-interaction effect on skin-conductance changes (F[59, 2,419] = .32,
p < .001, partial g2 = .044). The video ads were the most arousing, as Fig. 2 shows in the signicant
advertisements type  arousal-interaction effect on skin-conductance changes. Skin-conductance
data for arousal is a measure of emotional processing of media content (e.g., Bolls, Lang, & Potter,
2001). This nding shows video destination ads are more exciting than high-imagery audio destination advertisements. Consistent with previous studies, visual was signicantly related to arousal
(Tuch, Bargas-Avila, Opwis, & Wilhelm, 2009). When arousal is greater, the advertisement contents
are more memorable according to previous studies (e.g., Yegiyan & Lang, 2010). For hypothesis 2b,
the self-reported arousal data were also analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance. Arousal
was higher for video ads (M = 3.45, SD = .15) compared to high-imagery audio ads (M = 2.62, SD = .13).
Thus, the second hypothesis was supported as the results of this study indicate that video ads were
greater in terms of arousal than high-imagery audio ads.
Hypotheses 3 and 4 predicted that an individuals attitude toward high-imagery destination audio
advertisements would be different from his or her attitude toward destination video advertisements

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71

Fig. 1. Respondents change in heart rate.

and that an individuals behavioral intentions would be different for high-imagery destination audio
advertisements than for destination video advertisements. The results of these analyses (i.e., attitude
toward the ad and behavioral intentions) indicated that self-report responses were greater or more
favorable after video ads than after high-imagery audio ads (see Table 3 for means and F test statistics.). Therefore, hypotheses 3 and 4 were supported.
Discussion and conclusions
Advertisers are looking for ways to deliver their messages more effectively. In spite of the long-lasting effects of destination advertising, we are assuming that the tourism industries have not yet utilized destination ads ideally, perhaps because of limited knowledge on consumer responses. Hence,
we aimed to provide evidence drawn from viewers psychophysiological and self-reported responses
simultaneously. This study thus examined the inuence of particular experimental factors on consumers retention of advertising information, using an experimental design that could better elucidate the
visual-versus-verbal debate.
The results show that there is no difference in viewers attention between the two types of advertising examined here (H1). One possible interpretation is that during the exposure to destination ads,
the narration from high-imagery audio ads limited participants mental imagination on cognitive processing and therefore resulted in reduced attention. Similarly, imagery processing, which is evoked by
video ads, did not increase participants attention either, perhaps because participants passively receive the visual message of advertisement rather than actively pay attention to the stimuli. Possibly
for these reasons, there was no observable difference in the levels of participant attention evoked
by the Michigan destination advertisements. This observation may also be related to the message contents. For instance, both types of advertisements were possibly too monotonous to seize the full attention of the participants.

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Fig. 2. Respondents change in skin conductance.

Table 3
Effects of imagery (high-imagery audio/video) on consumer responses.
High-imagery audio ads
Response variable
SA
2.62
Aad
4.35
BI
4.11

Video ads

F value (signicance)

Effect size

3.45
5.34
4.96

3.72 (.05)
21.50 (.001)
19.52 (.001)

.13
.34
.32

SA = Self-reported arousal, Aad = Attitude toward the ad, BI = Behavioral intentions.

For hypothesis 2, interestingly, arousal proved greater for video ads than for high-imagery audio
ads. This nding is in line with the notion that greater arousal generates stronger emotional experiences (Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1997). These ndings are also supported by the unique characteristics of the tourism industry itself. Unlike more general brands or products, whose appeal may be based
more completely on utility and instrumentality (e.g., automobiles or soda pops), visuals are of the
highest importance in generating greater levels of arousal given the many intangible aspects of travel
products (Eckler & Bolls, 2011).
Based on the self-reported responses for hypotheses 3 and 4, advertisers can expect video ads to
engage imagery processing and lead to attitude formation and behavioral intentions toward traveling
to places like Michigan. Applying these ndings to destination advertisements, we can conclude that
the visual format leads to better attitudes toward the ads, as well as increases in intention to visit, than
does the similar verbal format. The results cannot demonstrate that visual-format ads exclusively increase individuals attitudes toward the ads or their intentions to visit. However, we could state that,
consistent with relevant prior research, the ndings regarding attitude toward ads may result in a
long-term competitive advantage toward a product or destination. A probable explanation here is that
the visual format helped individuals create mental images associated with the ads in their brains. This

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73

may provide a comparison of the intentions to visit between these two different formats of advertising
strategy.
The ndings of this study provide key insights into advertising within the tourism context and hold
implications for tourism-marketing communications. For scholarship, the research ndings are an
important contribution to the mental-imagery-processing literature in tourism. The concept of this research also contributes to the development of knowledge based on the effectiveness of destination
advertisements through competing media channels (i.e., video and audio ads), which have often been
ignored in a scholarly history dominated by investigations of print ads and websites (e.g., Lee &
Gretzel, 2012; Walters et al., 2007). As Spencer (2013) has stated, the effectiveness of advertisements
through media channel (i.e., video and audio ads) has not yet been ascertainedin spite of the wide
employment of destination TV or online advertisements. This study enriches the state of our understanding of destination-image responses in a video format, a crucial aspect of marketing.
The researchers could focus on moment of processing using psychophysiological measures as the
black box of the human brain unfolds. Psychophysiological-measure studies can provide valuable
information that simply cannot be derived from conscious introspection or self-reporting. After all,
media messages produce change in a psychophysiological system; only psychophysiological recordings, like those employed in this study, can create a bridge into that system and develop an over-time
record of change, time-locked to the delivery of the message (Lang, Potter, & Bolls, 2008). Thus, this
research may encourage tourism researchers to measure the black box of the human brain and mind
using a variety of measurement tools. Over time, researchers could track interactions occurring between a message, a medium, and a user by tracing human-body responses.
In addition, methodologically, this study has also explained in some detail the measurement of
heart rate and skin conductance, investigatory methods that can now be reproduced and rened, in
turn, in future research. The value of this experimental input outweighs the difculties associated with
learning to replicate the methods in a controlled environment for destination-advertisement experiments. This research has also revealed the effects of mental imagery by simultaneously testing different stimuli. It is critical for tourism academia and industry to be better informed about the
effectiveness of imagery and the stimuli that can encourage it.
From a practical aspect, these ndings can help marketers understand how crucial it is to invest in
effect ad designs and thereafter to evaluate their effectiveness. While reasonable minds can debate
whether advisements are effective or not, it appears that industry practitioners may obtain a measurable level of return from efforts to select the most effective type of ad in unique situations. This understanding and classication of advertisements provides general guidelines for developing tourismpromotion videos that foster imagination about what it would be like to experience the destination.
If destination marketing organizations have memorable and impressive images included in their associated advertisements, they can increase the chances of their destinations penetrating the consciousness of potential tourists. In sum, destination-advertising campaigns, such as those employing
experiential and neuroscience marketing, must be clear about the realities of a destination and what
it symbolizes in the minds of potential tourists to generate effective mental imagery.
Finally, this study also recommends that advertisers pay more attention to the type of ad format
their target users retrieve as the media environment is changing continuously. Based on the ndings
and particular sample of this study, the young generation focuses on visual images and is highly engaged in mental-imagery processing. The respondents of this study were college students, the socalled digital generation. Therefore, managers and advertisers within the tourism industry, such
as those at airline companies or hotels, may consider incorporating either of these elements into their
ads according to their target segmentations. Such tourism-related rms, expounding their hedonic or
experiential products, often make advertisements that urge potential customers to generate mental
imagination, such as visual experiences of service or comfort. These ndings also will also provide
new directions for future research on destination advertising and psychophysiology concepts in
tourism.
This study must be tempered with certain limitations. It would be benecial to compare groups
with prior-visit experience to groups who have never visited the destination in their responses to
the evoked ads. Future studies may also seek to classify sample participants based on their status
as visualizers or verbalizers when acquiring information. Individual capacities to experience mental

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imagery may not be standardized, which in and of itself raises a compelling topic for future research.
Combined verbal and visual information can be further studied because they are more powerful and
memorable than verbal or visual information alone. More research is needed to examine whether the
specic destination is highly relevant or if other types of manipulations are needed to evoke the desired effects.
Using a student sample of relatively small size can still be considered a limitation, and of course
utilizing convenience samples may also be an area of concern. Future research could collect samples
through probability samplings. Future studies could work toward increasing the generalizability of
these ndings in this pragmatically and theoretically rich area of inquiry. Future studies may also conduct self-reported attention queries after exposure to each ad since this study only focused on viewers
cognitive processing. Other follow-on studies may choose to replicate this experiment in a more natural environment as the present data was collected in highly controlled laboratory conditions at a single time point; high internal validity was gained through such a controlled laboratory setting. Given
these precautions, it is entirely plausible that the ndings arrived at here would be replicated in destination-advertising research conducted in a more natural setting.
Appendix A.
Measuring a Participants Heart Rate and Skin Conductance

The Psychophysiology Lab

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75

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