The power of visuals in destination advertising

Tourism ads that feature human images have a significant impact on consumers' attitudes and decision-making processes. However, little is known about the relative effectiveness of tourism ads that portray models in candid versus posed stances. To address this gap, this study applies the narrative transportation theory and utilizes a mixed-method approach to examine the influence of modeling style (posed vs. candid) on destination advertising effectiveness. The findings from an eye-tracking experiment, a semi-structured interview, and three online experiments reveal that candid models outperform posed models in generating favorable consumer responses within the context of destination advertising. Furthermore, this study elucidates narrative transportation as the psychological mechanism underlying such effects. However, the superiority of candid models over posed models is observed specifically in nature-based destinations rather than urban destinations. This research provides important theoretical and managerial implications.