Why Individuals Do Not Visit a Destination? The Role of Familiarity and Novelty Seeking in Shaping Non-visitors’ Destination Image

Non-visitors constitute a large but underexplored market pool with strong potential for tourist destinations. Drawing on the mere exposure and motivation frameworks, this study explores image differences among two groups of non-visitors (i.e., uninterested, unable to visit), along with the underlying factors for such variations. Findings drawn from two studies suggest that the groups significantly differ in terms of their images, novelty, familiarity, and intentions toward a destination. For the uninterested group it is familiarity, along with cognitive and affective image that shape intentions; while novelty and familiarity are the key determinants of conative image for those who cannot visit. The study contributes to the tourism marketing literature by demonstrating clear differences on destination image and its determinants across the two groups of non-visitors. In practical terms, such knowledge proves prudent in cultivating a place’s novelty, familiarity and desirability, thereby increasing the possibility that more non-visitors turn into goers.