Connecting through chatbots: residents’ insights on digital storytelling, place attachment, and value co-creation

Despite the widespread adoption of chatbots in tourism, there is limited research on their role in digital storytelling from residents’ perspectives. Drawing on Social Presence Theory, the primary objective of this study was to examine the impact of a chatbot’s anthropomorphic conversation style (emotional vs. neutral) on perceived digital storytelling components in destination marketing. Additionally, the research explored how digital storytelling through chatbots influenced residents’ place attachment and, consequently, their engagement in value co-creation. To address these research objectives, the study adopted a quantitative perspective and employed an experimental design. Data were collected from 176 residents of Side, Turkey, using convenience sampling, and all hypotheses were confirmed. The perceptions of digital storytelling expressed as emotional (experimental group) were found to be more positive than the neutral (control group). In addition, digital storytelling significantly influenced place attachment, which was a significant predictor of value co-creation. Finally, place attachment partially mediated the relationship between digital storytelling and residents’ value co-creation. The findings provided valuable insights for tourism stakeholders such as businesses, policymakers, and researchers, guiding the effective implementation of chatbots in destination marketing, investigating residents’ perspectives regarding emotional digital storytelling by chatbots, and enhancing residents’ engagement in value co-creation.