University of Twente Student Theses
The Impact of Hope and Fear Appeals in Video Content on Promoting Sustainable Tourism Behaviour
Wielgus, Pati (2025) The Impact of Hope and Fear Appeals in Video Content on Promoting Sustainable Tourism Behaviour.
|
PDF
12MB |
| Abstract: | The tourism industry remains a key driver of economic growth, while also posing persistent challenges to environmental sustainability. Tourists often engage in less sustainable behavior during vacations than in their daily lives. This study examines how emotional framing in short video content on social media influences tourists' pro-environmental intentions. Drawing on the Extended Parallel Process Model, it analyzes the effects of fear and hope appeals, with self-efficacy as a moderator and sustainable behavior at home as a control variable. A quantitative experiment was conducted with 237 tourists in Valencia, Spain. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions in a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design. The experimental videos varied in emotional framing and the inclusion of efficacy cues, followed by a survey measuring behavioral intentions. The results showed that neither fear nor hope appeals significantly increased pro-environmental intentions. Self-efficacy did not significantly moderate these effects. However, prior sustainable behavior at home was a strong predictor of intentions to behave sustainably while traveling. These findings suggest that emotional video messaging alone may have limited impact in tourism contexts, where psychological distancing and leisure-oriented goals may weaken message effectiveness. The study contributes to sustainability communication research by highlighting the contextual limitations of emotional appeals and underscoring the importance of habitual behavior and perceived behavioral relevance. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 43 environmental science |
| Programme: | Communication Science MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/106594 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page