Understanding the influence of sensory advertising of tourism destinations on visit intention with a modified AIDA model

Sensory marketing has been given much attention in tourism research and practice. However, few studies have analyzed the influencing mechanism of sensory marketing on consumers’ visit intention from the perspective of information adoption. To fill the gap, this study integrates the classical Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA) model with the Information Adoption Model to examine the effects of multisensory cues in tourism destination advertisements on customers’ visit intention. A conceptual model based on the modified AIDA model with four hierarchical processing stages, namely, perceived sensory stimulation (attention), perceived usefulness and credibility (evaluation), perceived attractiveness (interest), and visit intention (desire), is developed. The structural equation modeling technique is adopted to analyze the survey data gathered from 314 respondents in China. Results indicate that perceived sensory stimulation positively predicts perceived usefulness, perceived credibility, and perceived attractiveness, which subsequently promote customers’ visit intention. Moreover, the mediating roles of perceived usefulness, perceived credibility, and perceived attractiveness are supported. This study enriches the literature on sensory marketing in tourism and the application of the AIDA model. The findings also provide destination marketers with several useful suggestions to promote the advertising effect with sensory information.