Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454

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Journal of Destination Marketing & Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jdmm

The effect of celebrity endorsement on destination brand love: A

comparison of previous visitors and potential tourists
Hui Zhang a, Honggang Xu b, c, *, Dogan Gursoy d, e
a
School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University, 135 Xin’gangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510275, China
b
Key Laboratory of the Sustainable Development of Xinjiang’s Historical and Cultural Tourism, Xinjiang University, China
c
School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University, 135 Xin’gangxi Road, Guangzhou, 510275, China
d
School of Hospitality Business Management at the Washington State University, USA, PO Box 644742 Pullman, WA 99164-4742, USA
e
School of Tourism and Hospitality at University of Johannesburg, South Africa

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study examines the effect of celebrity endorsement on destination brand love, as well as the mediating effect
Destination brand love of parasocial interaction, across two different groups: previous visitors and potential tourists. Hong Kong was
Parasocial interaction selected as the destination, and Guangzhou was chosen as the research site to collect data. Direct, indirect, and
Celebrity endorsement
total effects, as well as multi-group comparison, were thoroughly investigated. Results show that both previous
Previous visitors
visitors and potential tourists can form a love relationship with a destination brand. However, the effects of
Potential tourists
celebrity endorsement on destination brand love are different between two groups. For potential tourists,
trustworthiness and expertise of celebrity endorser positively affect destination brand love directly and indirectly
through parasocial interaction. While for previous visitors, attractiveness and trustworthiness positively affect
destination brand love indirectly through parasocial interaction. This study provides new theoretical and
managerial implications on destination brand love.

1. Introduction competitive environment where destination images are highly homo­

Love basically means having strong feelings of liking another person,
such as a friend or a family member. Although love usually denotes
interpersonal love, the target of love can be an object as well, for
example, a brand (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006). In a tourism context, many
tourists say that they have experiences of falling in love with destina­
tions. For example, a tourist wrote in her blog “after taking a trip to
Hong Kong, I fell in love with this city”, another one wrote “I love Dali
very much, not only for its beautiful scenery, but also for its fascinating
folk stories”. In response, destination marketers designed love-themed
slogans to attract and maintain tourists. The most successful one is
New York’s “I Love New York” tourism promotion campaign that started
in 1977.
As a strong and positive emotional connection between tourists and a
destination brand, destination brand love can predict a series of positive
outcomes, such as brand loyalty (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006; Lee & Hyun,
2016), willingness to pay (Albert & Merunka, 2013), repurchase in­
tentions (Batra, Ahuvia, & Bagozzi, 2012), and resistance to negative
information (Aro, Suomi, & Saraniemi, 2018). In an increasingly
geneous and destinations’ functional attributes cannot attract and retain
tourists any longer, brand love offers an important and useful perspec­
tive to build powerful destination brands.
Only three papers are, however, found in this area. Lee and Hyun
(2016) empirically examined the relationships between perceived
destination ability, destination brand love, and behavioral loyalty.
Swanson (2017) investigated the applications of brand love in the
context of tourism destinations using qualitative research methods, and
proposed a destination brand love model incorporating its antecedents,
relational issues, experiential issues, and outcomes. She also identified
three types of destination brand love, i.e. friendship, affection, and
romantic love. Based on a qualitative case study, Aro, Suomi, & Sar­
aniemi, 2018 developed a framework summarizing the antecedents and
consequences of destination brand love.
Several research gaps can be identified from these studies. First, few
empirical studies have been done on destination brand love, especially
on what factors drive it. Second, celebrity endorsement is an important
brand communication strategy used by destination marketers to shape
tourists’ attitudes and behaviors regarding the destination brand (Belch

* Corresponding author. Key Laboratory of the Sustainable Development of Xinjiang’s Historical and Cultural Tourism, Xinjiang University, China
E-mail addresses: zhangh46@mail.sysu.edu.cn (H. Zhang), xuhongg@mail.sysu.edu.cn (H. Xu), dgursoy@wsu.edu (D. Gursoy).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100454
Received 11 August 2019; Received in revised form 1 June 2020; Accepted 7 June 2020
Available online 24 June 2020
2212-571X/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Zhang et al.
& Belch, 2018). Previous studies have shown that celebrity endorsers
develop an emotional attachment to the destination brand because they
provide meaning to the destination brand and because their images are
also strengthened by the endorsed brand (Reis, Maniaci, Caprariello,
Eastwick, & Finkel, 2011; Saldanha, Mulye, & Rahman, 2018). Thus, it is
worth investigating the impact of celebrity endorsements on tourists’
destination brand love.
Third, previous research has defined destination brand love as the
emotional attachment that a satisfied tourist shows toward a destination
brand (Aro, Suomi, & Saraniemi, 2018; Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006),
implying that it is a post-consumption experience. However, since
tourists are very much imagination-driven (Reijnders, 2011), people can
form attachments to a place through fantasy and imagination (Griffiths,
2005), and so emotional attachment to a potential destination can
therefore occur before their actual visits. Understanding whether and
how potential tourists might establish a love relationship with a desti­
nation brand can produce deeper knowledge of destination branding.
Considering these research gaps, the purpose of this study is to
empirically investigate the effects of celebrity characteristics (i.e.
attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness) on destination brand love
from a parasocial interaction perspective across two different groups (i.
e. previous visitors and potential tourists). The following sections
further develop hypotheses based previous studies and theories. Hong
Kong is then taken as the focal destination brand and residents in
Guangzhou as target population to collect data. Findings of this study
will further the understanding of destination brand love and provide
insightful implications for destination marketers.
2. Literature review
2.1. Destination brand love
Love is a complex feeling that involves liking, intimacy, and
attachment. It is generally used to describe an emotional attachment
between human beings (i.e. interpersonal love). Yet individuals can also
develop love towards an object (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006). For example,
consumers can experience a feeling of love toward a brand, which can
serve as a primary driver of their brand loyalty and positive
word-of-mouth behavior (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006).
Love is hard to be accurately defined academically. Rubin (1970)
described love as an attitude one shows toward other person. Sternberg
(1997) proposed a triangular view of love and divided it into three di­
mensions of intimacy, passion, and commitment. Although the concept
of love was applied to the area of brand management, there is no general
consensus on the definition and dimensions of brand love (Batra et al.,
2012). Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) asserted that interpersonal love and
love for an object are quite similar, and they (2006, p.81) defined brand
love as an “emotional attachment a satisfied consumer has for a
particular trade name.” which includes a passionate, attached and pos­
itive relationship between a consumer and a brand. Keh, Pang, and Peng
(2007, p.24) described brand love as an “intimate, passionate, and
committed relationship between a customer and a brand, characterized
by its reciprocal, purposive, multiplex, and dynamic properties.” Kamat
and Parulekar (2007) defined brand love as consumers’ feeling of loyalty
to a brand. According to these studies, brand love refers to a positive and
deep emotional attachment between consumers and a brand. Studies
mainly argue that brand love is usually formed after satisfactory and/or
delightful consumption experiences.
Different researchers hold different opinions on the dimensionality
of brand love, varying from one (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006) to 11 di­
mensions (Albert, Merunka, & Valette-Florence, 2008). Carroll and
Ahuvia (2006) developed a one-dimensional scale to measure brand
love. Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen (2010) used two items (i.e. ‘would you
miss the brand if it was no longer available?‘, and ‘do you feel deep
affection, like “love”, for the brand?‘) to measure brand love. Other re­
searchers have conceptualized brand love as a multidimensional
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Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454
construct. For example, based on Sternberg’s (1997) triangular theory of
interpersonal love, Keh et al. (2007) used three dimensions, i.e. in­
timacy, passion, and commitment, to measure brand love. Kamat and
Parulekar (2007) divided brand love into five dimensions: friendship,
contentment, admiration, commitment, and yearning. Batra et al.
(2012) found that brand love is a high-order construct that includes
seven dimensions: passion-driven behaviors, self-brand integration,
positive emotional connection, long-term relationship, anticipated sep­
aration distress, overall attitude valence, and attitude certainty and
confidence. Albert et al. (2008) identified 11 dimensions of brand love:
passion, duration of the relationship, self-congruity, dreams, memories,
pleasure, attraction, uniqueness, beauty, trust, and declaration of affect.
Among these studies, Carroll and Ahuvia’s (2006) scale is the most-used
measure by researchers because of its excellent reliability, validity, and
ease-of-use (e.g. Yang, Li, & Zhao, 2014; Yang, Lu, & Sun, 2018; Yuan,
Moon, Kim, & Wang, 2019).
Antecedents and outcomes of brand love have also been studied.
Several factors were identified as antecedents of brand love, including
brand identification (Albert & Merunka, 2013; Bergkvist & Bech-Larsen,
2010), brand trust (Albert & Merunka, 2013), sense of community
(Bergkvist & Bech-Larsen, 2010), and the need for group affiliation and
identity expression (Yang, Lu, & Sun, 2018). Brand love has been re­
ported to have positive effects on a number of outcome variables, such as
brand loyalty (Batra et al., 2012; Bergkvist & Bech-Larsen, 2010; Carroll
& Ahuvia, 2006), word-of-mouth behavior (Albert & Merunka, 2013;
Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006), active engagement (Bergkvist & Bech-Larsen,
2010), and willingness to pay a price premium (Albert & Merunka,
2013).
Carroll and Ahuvia (2006) noted that consumers are more likely to
form a love relationship with hedonic products and brands that offer
more symbolic value. Destinations are symbolic landscapes for tourists.
Thus, tourists may fall in love with a destination as well. Many tourists
write in their blogs that ‘I love this amazing city’. Also, there are many
posts on the Internet such as ‘four reasons why you will love Amster­
dam’. Even though, destination brand love represents a theoretically
and practically important concept, it has received scant attention from
tourism scholars (Aro, Suomi, & Saraniemi, 2018; Lee & Hyun, 2016).
Aro, Suomi, & Saraniemi, 2018 defined destination brand love as the
emotional attachment of satisfied tourists toward a destination, it de­
notes an identification with a destination brand. Lee and Hyun (2016)
argued that a tourist’s love for a destination brand refers to three as­
pects: passionate love, emotional attachment, and self-brand integra­
tion. Swanson (2017) concluded that there are three types of destination
brand love: friendship, affection, and romantic. Friendship love is
formed based on familiarity, and denotes a deep respect and admiration
of tourists towards destinations. Affection love refers to a family mem­
ber like love formed between tourists and destinations. Romantic love is
associated with a ‘love at first sight’, which lacks logic. Consistently,
these researchers have reported that previous visitors, i.e. those satisfied
tourists, would have love feelings for tourist destinations they have
visited.
The drivers and outcomes of destination brand love have also been
studied. Lee and Hyun (2016) found that perceived destination attrac­
tiveness has a positive effect on destination brand love, which in turn
drives destination brand loyalty behavior. Aro, Suomi, & Saraniemi,
2018 proposed a conceptual model of destination brand love. In this
model, destination brand love is driven by brand-experience-related (e.
g. satisfaction), tourist-dependent (e.g. identification to brand), and
brand-dependent (e.g. self-expressiveness of the brand) factors. Desti­
nation brand love leads to emotional (e.g. attitudinal loyalty) and
behavioral (e.g. declaration of love) consequences. Overall, the study on
destination brand love is still in an early stage in understanding why
potential and previous visitors may love a tourist destination.
H. Zhang et al.
2.2. Tourists’ status and destination brand love
As noted above, previous studies have defined destination brand love
as the emotional attachment a satisfied tourist has towards a destination
brand (e.g. Aro, Suomi, & Saraniemi, 2018; Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006),
implying that in order to ensure a love relationship between a tourist
and a destination brand, a tourist must first travel to the destination and
have a satisfaction experience. However, “developing a bond with place
does not require physical experience” (Griffiths, 2005, p. 215), because
people can form attachments to a place through fantasy and imagination
(Griffiths, 2005). Therefore, potential tourists are also likely to fall in
love with a destination. Several theories provide further support for this
argument.
According to the three-orders hierarchy model (Ray, 1973) and the
Foote, Cone and Belding (FCB) model (Vaughn, 1986) from marketing
communication, for high-involvement products and services, con­
sumers’ affective reactions toward the brand (e.g. brand love) precede
their behaviors (i.e. an ’affective-behavioral’ sequential response). In
addition, brand cognition (i.e. information and knowledge about the
brand) can lead to affect (i.e. brand love). Therefore, potential tourists
can also fall in love with a destination they have never been to. Tourists
can acquire knowledge about a specific destination brand in ways other
than actually experiencing it, such as watching advertisements, reading
books, and communicating with others (Zhang, Gursoy, & Xu, 2017).
Affect transfer theory (Biswas, Biswas, & Das, 2006) provides addi­
tional support for tourists’ potential destination brand love. As the
Chinese proverb goes, ‘the love for a person extends even to the crows on
the roof of his house’ (‘ai wu ji wu’), meaning that love can be transferred
from a person/object to another person/object, which can be explained
by the affect transfer theory (Biswas et al., 2006). People may love a city
they have never visited before because they can develop love for a place
from a person, a book/magazine, a story, a song, a poem, or a movie
(Jiang & Xu, 2016). For example, Saldanha et al. (2018) suggested that
consumers’ attachment to a celebrity is positively correlated with their
attachment to the celebrity’s brand. In this sense, potential tourists may
enter into a love relationship with a destination brand they have never
visited before just because of their love toward a person/object.
Incorporating potential tourists into the concept of destination brand
love can thus be said to have both theoretical and practical value. The
bond between tourists and a destination can be classified into pre-visit,
on-site, and post-visit bond categories (Tynan & McKechnie, 2009).
However, most of the studies in destination branding area have mainly
focused on the post-visit bond. Potential tourists’ destination brand love
provides an important theoretical perspective to study the
tourist-destination relationship.
2.3. Celebrity endorsement
With the development of mass media, celebrity endorsements are
becoming a more and more important medium for communicating
destination messages to tourists. ‘Celebrity’ refers to any individual who
enjoys high social reputation and public recognition (Belch & Belch,
2018), including movie and television stars, singers, artists, athletes,
politicians, and so on, and mass media relates a celebrity endorser’s
image and reputation to the destination brand (Veen & Song, 2014).
Research on celebrity endorsement is mainly done from four ap­
proaches: source attractiveness and credibility models (Ohanian, 1990),
affect transfer theory (Biswas et al., 2006), balance theory (Su, Huang,
Brodowsky, & Kim, 2011), and match-up hypothesis (Koernig & Boyd,
2009). Source attractiveness and credibility models, affect transfer
theory, and balance theory provide theoretical bases to investigate the
effect of celebrity endorsement on destination brand love.
Source attractiveness and credibility models suggest that the char­
acteristics of the source (i.e. celebrity endorsers) affect the endorsement
effects (Zhang & Zhang, 2010). Ohanian (1990) developed three basic
categories of source characteristics: attractiveness, trustworthiness, and
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Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454
expertise. Attractiveness describes the physical attractiveness as well as
other characteristics of a celebrity endorser such as their personality and
lifestyle (Gong & Li, 2017). Trustworthiness refers to the extent to which
consumers believe the endorser is honest, has integrity, and is believable
(Ohanian, 1990), while expertise is the degree of an endorser’s knowl­
edge, skills, and experience (Ohanian, 1990). These three characteris­
tics’ effects on tourists’ destination brand love are therefore examined.
According to the source attractiveness model (Gong & Li, 2017), a
physically attractive celebrity is more likely to influence consumers’
attitudes and behaviors compared to a less physically attractive celeb­
rity, while according to the source credibility model (Gong & Li, 2017), a
celebrity endorser who is perceived to be knowledgeable and trust­
worthy will have a more persuasive effect on consumers compared to
others. Previous research has suggested that a celebrity with high
perceived trustworthiness is more likely to influence consumers’ atti­
tudes and behavioral intentions (Ohanian, 1990).
Affect transfer theory provides another explanation for the effect of
celebrity endorsements on attitudes and intention (Biswas et al., 2006).
Affect transfer theory suggests that the image or affect of a celebrity
endorser can be transferred to a brand through endorsement, thereby
influencing attitudes and purchase intent regarding the brand. Saldanha
et al. (2018) proposed a tripartite attachment-endorsement model which
reflects the transfer of attachment from celebrity-brand to
consumer-brand pairings.
Balance theory is widely applied in the study of interpersonal re­
lationships, attitude change, and social cognition. Heider (1958)
developed a P–O-X triangle where P is a focal person, O is another actor
(e.g. celebrity endorser) and X is an object (e.g. destination brand) in
order to examine the structure of individuals’ attitudes toward other
individuals/objects as well as the perceived relationships between them.
Three relationships exist in the triangle, and the relationships have to be
balanced. According to balance theory (Su et al., 2011), both the rela­
tionship between the celebrity endorser (O) and the brand (X) and the
relationship between a consumer (P) and the celebrity endorser (O) are
positive. In order to achieve a balanced state, the consumer (P) will form
a positive attitude toward the brand (X).
2.4. Parasocial interaction
While a celebrity’s attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness, as
mentioned above, are considered to be source factors, consumers’
involvement with media figures is considered to be an audience factor,
based on parasocial interaction theory (Gong & Li, 2017). Both source
and audience factors contribute to tourist-destination love relationships.
Specifically, the balance model, source models, and affect transfer the­
ory explain the attachment between tourists and a destination brand,
and parasocial interaction explains the emotional attachment between
tourists and celebrities (Chung & Cho, 2017).
Parasocial interaction was used to describe perceived affective in­
teractions between media users and media figures. Rubin, Perse, and
Powell (1985) defined parasocial interaction as an affective interper­
sonal involvement of media audiences with media figures, including
seeing media figures as friends, seeking advices from media figures, and
hoping to meet the figures. Parasocial interaction is a one-way, virtual
relationship, mediated by media such as television, radio, newspapers,
and magazines. Typically, media users are familiar with the media fig­
ures, however the media figures know little about the media users.
Media figures exert impacts on media users who adapt their images and
behaviors. The parasocial relationship is viewed by media users as
though the media figure is a friend, and therefore, a strong emotional
bond can be formed between media users and media figures.
Researchers have different views on the dimensionality of parasocial
interactions. Auter & Palmgreen, 2000 identified four sub-dimensions of
parasocial interactions: identification with a favorite character, interest
in favorite a character, group identification/interaction, and a favorite
character’s problem-solving ability. Sood and Rogers (2000) found
H. Zhang et al.
parasocial interactions to consist of five sub-dimensions: affective
interaction, cognitive interaction, behavioral interaction, referential
involvement, and critical involvement. Most researchers have asserted
that parasocial interaction is a unidimensional construct. For example,
Rubin et al. (1985) developed a one-dimensional scale to measure par­
asocial interaction, which is the most widely used measurement (Dibble,
Hartmann, & Rosaen, 2016), and have been applied in traditional and
social media settings (e.g. Labrecque, 2014). Some empirical studies
have also been carried out on the effects of influencers’ characteristics
on parasocial interaction, as well as the effect of parasocial interaction
on consumers’ emotional bonds to the influencer and the brand (Gong &
Li, 2017; Ho, 2007; Labrecque, 2014).
3. Hypothesis development
This study develops a model for understanding why tourists fall in
love with a destination brand, based on the theories mentioned above.
Specifically, the study combines source models (Ohanian, 1990), bal­
ance theory (Su et al., 2011), parasocial interaction theory (Chung &
Cho, 2017), and affect transfer theory (Saldanha et al., 2018) to develop
the research model. Fig. 1 presents the conceptual model for this study.
In the triangular model, a balanced state is achieved through three
steps. First, the celebrity endorser is chosen by destination marketers to
represent their destination brand, and hence the relationship between
the celebrity endorser and the destination brand is positive. The celeb­
rity will become attached to the destination brand because of the in­
teractions between them (Saldanha et al., 2018). Second, according to
the source attractiveness and credibility models, if the celebrity endorser
is perceived as attractive, trustworthy, and knowledgeable, tourists will
form a positive attitude toward them. According to parasocial interac­
tion theory (Perse & Powell, 1989), tourists will develop an imaginary
relationship with the celebrity, and hence form an emotional attachment
to them (Russell & Stern, 2006). Third, according to balance theory (Su
et al., 2011), in order to keep a psychological balance, tourists will form
a positive attitude toward the destination brand, and according to affect
transfer theory (Biswas et al., 2006), tourists’ emotional attachment will
be transferred to the destination brand. Each hypothesis will now be
explored in detail below.
3.1. Celebrity endorsement and destination brand love
Balance theory (Russell & Stern, 2006) provides evidence to supports
the effect of celebrity endorsement on destination brand love. Specif­
ically, tourists, a celebrity endorser, and the destination brand constitute
a triangular structure. If tourists love the celebrity endorser because of
their attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise, and believe that
they love the destination, then they will tend to love the destination as
well, in order to avoid a cognitive dissonance state. For example, Su
et al. (2011) noted that when there is a close and positive relationship
Fig. 1. The conceptual model.
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Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454
between audiences and the characters they see on TV, and if the char­
acters’ attitude toward an onscreen location is positive, audiences will
adjust their attitudes toward the location accordingly.
Source attractiveness and credibility models provide additional evi­
dence concerning the positive effect of celebrity endorsement on desti­
nation brand love. According to source attractiveness and credibility
models (Kim, Wang, & Ahn, 2013), if a celebrity endorser is perceived to
have relevant knowledge, skills, and experiences in endorsing a desti­
nation, and has attractive physical appearance, tourists are more likely
to show positive emotions (i.e. love) to the endorsed destination. For
example, Gilal, Pau, Gilal, and Gilal (2019) found that celebrity attrac­
tiveness and expertise have positive effects on airline brand loyalty
among air travelers through relatedness need satisfaction.
Parasocial interaction theory suggests that tourists may develop an
emotional attachment to a celebrity when watching advertisements (Su
et al., 2011), and according to the affect transfer theory (Biswas et al.,
2006), the emotional attachment to a celebrity can be transferred to a
destination brand with a close relationship with the celebrity (Saldanha
et al., 2018). As emotional attachment to an object is a measure of brand
love (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006), then celebrity endorsement can lead to
destination brand love. Combining the above-mentioned arguments, it is
posited that:
H1. A celebrity endorser’s (a) attractiveness, (b) trustworthiness and
(c) expertise have positive effects on destination brand love.
3.2. Celebrity endorsement and parasocial interaction
According to the interpersonal communication theory and the source
attractiveness theory, and the source credibility theory, a relationship is
more easily formed between a receiver and a communicator when the
latter is perceived as attractive, knowledgeable, and trustworthy (Belch
& Belch, 2018). Previous research has shown that the attractiveness of a
media figure can be an important driver of parasocial interaction
(Hoffner, 1996). The authority, competence, and qualifications of a
communicator were also found to be positively correlated with cus­
tomers’ attitude formation and change (Belch & Belch, 2018). Yuan,
Kim, and Kim (2016) argued that source credibility, which was oper­
ationalized as a second-order construct of attractiveness, trustworthi­
ness and expertise, positively affects parasocial interaction.
The effect of celebrity on parasocial interaction has been confirmed
in destination branding area. For example, Choi, Kim, Cha, Suh, and Kim
(2019) found that competence, benevolence, and honesty, as interper­
sonal trust dimensions, are significant in developing parasocial inter­
action among travelers, while Kim and Kim (2018) observed that the
characteristics (e.g. attractiveness, reputation, fame, and popularity) of
celebrities in a TV drama strongly influence audiences’ parasocial
interaction with them and their intent to visit the shooting locations. It is
therefore posited that:
H2. A celebrity endorser’s (a) attractiveness, (b) trustworthiness, and
(c) expertise have positive effects on parasocial interaction.
3.3. Parasocial interaction and destination brand love
Numerous studies have proved the effect of parasocial interactions
on consumers’ positive brand-related attitudes and behaviors. Perse and
Rubin (1989) observed that soap-opera viewers who formed parasocial
relationship with their favorite characters have higher satisfaction with
the soap-opera. Lee & Lee, 2017 noted that parasocial interaction has a
positive impact on customers’ self-brand connection. Hartmann (2016)
asserted that parasocial interaction fosters satisfaction and enjoyment,
and fulfills the need for belongings. Yuan et al. (2016) found that par­
asocial relationship between media users and media figure positively
influences their attitudes toward using the social networking sites.
In the tourism management context, Kim and Kim (2018) found that
parasocial interaction leads to consumers’ word-of-mouth about travel
H. Zhang et al.
websites, while Su et al. (2011) noted that engaging in parasocial re­
lationships with celebrities influences viewers’ attitudes toward
film-related locations. Chen (2018) observed that celebrity involvement
is positively associated with place attachment, and Fu, Ye, and Xiang
(2016) found that when audiences involve themselves deeply with a
reality show, they may generate positive evaluations of the destination’s
attributes, and hence have positive emotional responses (e.g. liking)
toward the destination. Yen & Teng, (2015) found that tourists’
involvement with a celebrity produces positive attitudes toward the
destination brand endorsed by that celebrity. Destination brand love
represents a deep emotional connection between tourists and the
destination, which involves attachment to the brand, positive evaluation
of the brand, and feelings of love for the brand (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006).
Based on the empirical research findings mentioned above, it is
reasonable to predict that parasocial interaction will lead to destination
brand love. Thus, it is hypothesized that:
H3. Parasocial interaction positively affects destination brand love.
3.4. Mediating effect of parasocial interaction
As discussed above, this study proposes that the perceived trust­
worthiness, expertise, and attractiveness of a celebrity endorser will lead
to the formation of parasocial interactions between tourists and the
endorser (H2). This study also suggests that parasocial interactions
would facilitate destination brand love (H3). In this regard, parasocial
interactions may mediate the effects of trustworthiness, expertise, and
attractiveness on destination brand love.
The mediating role of parasocial interaction on the relationship be­
tween the characteristics of an influencer and consumers’ emotional
responses has been established in both product branding and destination
branding. For example, Sokolova and Kefi (2019) observed a significant
and positive effect of the social attractiveness of an influencer on par­
asocial interaction, which in turn influences consumers’ purchase in­
tentions. Yuan et al. (2019) found that web celebrity fashion endorsers’
attributes of popularity, fashionableness, and affinity positively affect
parasocial interaction, with the latter being positively associated with
value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity. Choi et al. (2019)
found that the competence, benevolence, and honesty of an
online-travel-community member are significant predictors of other
members’ parasocial interactions with the community, which in turn
contributes to community satisfaction. The following hypothesis is
therefore posited:
H4. Parasocial interaction mediates the effect of (a) attractiveness, (b)
trustworthiness and (c) expertise on destination brand love.
3.5. Different effects of celebrity endorsement
According to Kelman’s (2006) social influence theory, source cred­
ibility and attractiveness influence consumers’ attitudes and behaviors
through different processes. Specifically, trustworthiness and expertise
influence consumers’ attitudes through an internalization process
through which consumers form/change their attitudes because they
believe that the information is credible. Attractiveness influences con­
sumers’ attitudes via an identification mechanism, which refers to
consumers’ acceptance of information because they want to maintain a
relationship with those communicating the information (Belch & Belch,
2018).
Internalization is a more persuasive and stable mechanism than
identification because once the information is internalized, it is inte­
grated as the consumers’ own belief and is unlikely to change over time
(Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). Unlike internalization, identification does
not usually integrate information from an attractive source into the re­
ceiver’s belief system (Belch & Belch, 2018). Consumers may maintain
their attitude position or behavior only so long as the source remains
attractive. Hsu, Wang, and Chih (2018) found that internalization
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Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454
(shared vision and shared language) has a positive impact on identifi­
cation, which provides additional support for the social identity theory.
In short, although attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise are
all hypothesized to have positive effects on destination brand love (H1),
the effects of trustworthiness and expertise on destination brand love
will be expected to be larger than those of attractiveness. Consistent with
social influence theory (Kelman, 2006), Zhao, Stylianou, and Zheng
(2018) observed that the effect of informational influence, which occurs
through the internalization process, on a review’s perceived usefulness
is greater than that of value-expressive influence, which is formed
through identification. Thus, it is posited that:
H5. The effect of (a) trustworthiness and (b) expertise on brand love is
larger than the effect of attractiveness on brand love.
3.6. Previous visitors versus potential tourists
Although previous studies (e.g. Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006) have
conceptualized brand love as a post-consumption experience, this study
asserts that potential tourists can also fall in love with a destination. This
assertion is supported by the three-orders hierarchy model (Ray, 1973),
the FCB model (Vaughn, 1986), and affect transfer theory (Biswas et al.,
2006). However, the effectiveness of a celebrity endorsement in shaping
destination brand love may be different between potential and previous
visitors.
Celebrity endorsement is a form of brand communication in which a
celebrity act as a brand’s spokesperson by extending their traits,
knowledge, experiences, skills, and trust to the brand (Belch & Belch,
2018), and celebrity endorsers serve as an important information source
for tourists to acquire destination information (Belch & Belch, 2018).
Tourism destinations provide tourists with bundles of goods and services
that are highly experiential in nature (Shen, Li, Lyu, & Chang, 2015),
and tourists cannot test the destination before an actual visit. In this
situation, a celebrity’s endorsement of a destination can be used by
tourists as a cue to infer the quality of the destination, and can be a
driver of a positive attitude and attachment to the destination (Russell &
Stern, 2006).
Previous visitors usually have much more knowledge about the
destination because of their past travel experience there, while in
contrast, potential tourists have no such first-hand experience, and thus
generally have less knowledge about the destination. In a meta-analysis
study, Knoll and Matthes (2017) noted that consumers’ familiarity with
an endorsed brand moderates the effect of celebrity endorsement on
attitude toward the brand. Specifically, celebrity endorsement is more
effective in the case of unfamiliar objects when compared to familiar
ones (Knoll & Matthes, 2017). In a similar vein, if tourists are familiar
with a destination or if they have much knowledge about that destina­
tion, their brand love is less likely to be influenced by celebrity
endorsement, whereas potential tourists are more likely to rely on ce­
lebrity endorsers as information sources to form their brand love
because of their lack of knowledge (Zhang et al., 2017). In this sense,
celebrity endorsement can be predicted to have a greater effect on
destination brand love for potential tourists than previous visitors. Thus,
it is posited that:
H6. The direct effects of (a) attractiveness, (b) trustworthiness, and (c)
expertise on destination brand love are larger for potential tourists than
previous visitors.
H7. The indirect effects of (a) attractiveness, (b) trustworthiness, and
(c) expertise on destination brand love are larger for potential tourists
than previous visitors.
H8. The total effects of (a) attractiveness, (b) trustworthiness, and (c)
expertise on destination brand love are larger for potential tourists than
previous visitors.
Fig. 2 depicts the hypothesized model.
H. Zhang et al.
Fig. 2. Research model.
4. Methodology
4.1. Focal destination brand and research site
Following Veen and Song’s (2014) study, Hong Kong was selected as
the focal destination brand and Guangzhou was chosen as the study
location to gather data. Hong Kong was chosen as the focal destination
brand in this study for several reasons. First, Hong Kong, the Pearl of the
Orient, has established an influential destination brand with a clear
brand image since 1950s. It was ranked as the top city destination in the
world. Second, tourism industry is considered as the pillar industry of
Hong Kong, and the government attaches great importance to the
development of the tourism industry. Hong Kong is one of the world’s
most visited cities. Tourist arrivals reached 58.472 million in 2017.
Third, celebrity endorsement has been a frequently used tool by Hong
Kong government to promote it as a major tourist destination.
While Hong Kong was chosen as the focal destination brand,
Guangzhou was selected as the study location to collect data. Guangz­
hou, also known Canton, is the capital city of Guangdong province in
southern China, approximately 120 km northwest of Hong Kong.
Transportation between Guangzhou and Hong Kong is very convenient.
There are over 30 pairs of Guangzhou-Hong Kong high speed train
running daily with the duration of around 50 min. Guangzhou is one of
the most developed cities in China with a population of over 14 million.
Guangzhou and Hong Kong have similar cultural backgrounds. Hong
Kong government considers Guangzhou as the most important source
market of tourists (Veen & Song, 2014).
4.2. Celebrity and advertisement
Similar to other studies that have employed fictitious advertisements
to evaluate endorsement effectiveness (e.g. Veen & Song, 2014), a
fictitious advertisement was designed containing a real celebrity and a
real picture of Hong Kong, which helps to avoid the potential con­
founding effects of a real advertisement previously or currently used by
the Hong Kong Tourist Promotion Board to target mainland Chinese
tourists.
A series of pretests was conducted to determine a celebrity endorser
and a picture representing Hong Kong in the advertisement. The ce­
lebrity endorser was chosen according to several criteria. First, the ce­
lebrity should be a local person from Hong Kong since a native celebrity
can induce more positive attitudinal responses (Veen & Song, 2014).
Second, the celebrity should have a good public image and enjoy a high
6
Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454
popularity in Mainland China. Third, the celebrity should not currently
be an official endorser of Hong Kong. Considering that most destinations
only use one celebrity in a given period, and previous researchers have
focused on one celebrity in their studies (e.g. Shen et al., 2015), the
current study also focused on one celebrity. According to these criteria,
Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung were chosen as candidate celebrities for
the advertisement. After that, 117 participants (54% male) were invited
to participate in a study to assess respondents’ familiarity with these
celebrities. Results indicated that 99% of them were very familiar with
Andy Lau, while only 59% of them were familiar with Maggie Cheung.
Therefore, Andy Lau was chosen as the celebrity to be used in the
advertisement.
Thirteen scenic spots were selected from the official web site of Hong
Kong (https://www.discoverhongkong.com) and 108 participants
(31.5% male) were invited to evaluate which one of those was the most
representative picture of Hong Kong. Results indicated that Victoria
harbor (accounting for 54.63%) was considered as the most represen­
tative picture of Hong Kong. Therefore, Victoria harbor was selected as
the background picture in the advertisement.
A print advertisement was created with the help of professionals.
Victoria harbor and Andy Lau constituted the main body of the adver­
tisement, and both the Chinese and English slogan ‘best of all, it is in
Hong Kong’ was placed in the advertisement as well. Although a print
advertisement was used to collect data, this advertisement can also be
easily used in online marketing or in social media sites, hence findings of
this study can also be applied to online promotions.
4.3. Measurement
To measure destination brand love, six items were used from Carroll
and Ahuvia (2006), which were validated by Yang et al. (2014), Yang
et al. (2018), and Yuan et al. (2019) in Chinese contexts. To measure
attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise, Ohanian’s (1990) scale
was used. Each construct was measured by five items. This scale is also
widely used in Chinese contexts (e.g. Zhang & Zhang, 2010). Parasocial
interaction was measured by five items from Rubin and Perse’s (1987)
study, which is the most widely used instrument to measure parasocial
interactions (Dibble et al., 2016). It was also validated in Chinese con­
texts (e.g. Bao, Dong, & Meng, 2011). The measurement items are pre­
sented in Table 3. All items were measured using a seven-point Likert
scale with 10 indicating strongly disagree and ‘7’ indicating strongly
agree. Besides, an item ‘how familiar are you with Hong Kong/Andy
Lau’ was used to measure respondent’s familiarity with Hong
H. Zhang et al. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454

Kong/Andy Lau. 5. Results

4.4. Data collection and sample profile 5.1. Descriptive analysis

Data were collected using personal interviews from the residents of
Guangzhou between February 6 and March 20 in 2018. Four trained
research assistants were instructed to intercept every tenth person at the
most-frequented locations, such as Flower City Square, Grandview Mall,
Teem Plaza, Hag Cheun, Wanda Plaza, and so on. Data collection was
composed of three stages. First, the research assistants were instructed
to ask the person whether he or she lived in Guangzhou more than a
year. If the answer was a no, the interview was terminated. If the answer
was a yes, then the respondent was asked to view the advertisement and
answer whether they know the person. If the answer was a no, the
interview was terminated. If the answer was yes, the respondent was
asked to view the advertisement for a while and then asked to complete
the questionnaire. As mentioned above, both previous visitors and po­
tential tourists can fall in love with a destination, therefore both of them
are targeted to collect data. A filter question, ‘Have you visited Hong
Kong before?‘, was devised to identify whether a respondent is a
repeated or potential tourist. A total of 1059 questionnaires were
distributed and 1044 valid ones were gathered, with a valid response
rate of 98.5%. Among them, 666 (63.8%) were previous visitors, and
378 (36.2%) were potential tourists.
For both samples, gender distributions were roughly equal. The
majority of the respondents (previous visitor ¼ 69.9%, potential tourists
¼ 67.4%) were between 21 and 40 years old. More than a half (previous
visitors ¼ 71.6%, potential tourists ¼ 56.3%) held a university degree.
As for occupation, the majority of respondents (previous visitors ¼
79.4%, potential tourists ¼ 77%) were working adults and students.
Monthly income levels varied, with most of them (previous visitors ¼
63.5%, potential tourists ¼ 61.4%) earning more than 3000 Yuan. The
detailed sample distributions are shown in Table 1. The samples are
representative of characteristics of tourists of Hong Kong as a whole (e.g.
Veen & Song, 2014).
Descriptive statistics for all measurement items were calculated as
presented in Appendix A. The Cronbach’s α values for the constructs
ranged between 0.924 and 0.975 for previous visitors, and ranged be­
tween 0.926 and 0.979 for potential tourists, indicating high internal
consistency (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2013). Correlations (see
Table 4) between each pair of constructs ranged from 0.376 to 0.723 for
previous visitors, and 0.415 and 0.758 for potential tourists, indicating
that the common method variance was not a severe problem (Pavlou,
Liang, & Xue, 2007).
In order to check whether male and female respondents held
different perceptions on familiarity with Andy Lau and Hong Kong, two
independent t-tests were conducted. Results indicated that there were no
significant differences between male and female respondents in famil­
iarity with Andy Lau (t ¼ 0.231, p > 0.05) and Hong Kong (t ¼ 0.465,
p > 0.05).
The results showed that previous visitors (mean ¼ 4.773) are more
familiar with Hong Kong than potential tourists (mean ¼ 3.471, t ¼
13.119, p < 0.01), as traveling can increase tourists’ familiarity to a
destination, and tourists who had visited a destination are more sensi­
tive to information about that destination even though in their daily
lives.
Because a male celebrity endorser was chosen in this study, in order
to examine whether male and female respondents held different per­
ceptions on the celebrity endorser’s attractiveness, trustworthiness and
expertise, a series of independent sample t-tests were conducted on the
15 items used to measure the celebrity endorser’s attractiveness, trust­
worthiness and expertise. Findings showed that for most items, there
were no significant differences between male and female respondents in
both groups (see Appendix B).
The results also suggested that previous visitors (mean ¼ 4.862) have
a high level of destination brand love than potential tourists (mean ¼
4.635, t ¼ 2.583, p < 0.05), indicating traveling can improve tourists’
love feelings toward a destination. Besides, destination brand love of
potential tourists was significantly greater than the mid-point of the
scale (t ¼ 8.400, p < 0.001), indicating potential tourists will love a
destination brand as well.

Table 1 5.2. Measurement invariance of destination brand love

Sample profiles.
Variable Value Previous Potential A multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted
visitors(n ¼ tourists(n ¼ using Mplus 7.0 to examine measurement invariance of destination
666) 378) brand love between previous visitors and potential tourist. As show in
N % N % Table 2, four models, i.e. configural invariance, weak invariance, strong
invariance, and latent mean invariance were fit the data well. No dif­
Gender Male 312 46.8 209 55.3
Female 354 53.2 169 44.7 ferences were found between each two models, because all ΔCFIs were
Marriage Married 312 46.8 155 41.0 below 0.01 (Zhang et al., 2017). The results suggested that latent means
Other 353 53.0 223 59.0 of destination brand love across previous visitors and potential tourists
Age <20 66 9.9 52 13.8
21–30 278 41.7 183 48.4
31–40 188 28.2 72 19.0 Table 2
>41 132 19.8 71 18.8 Measurement invariance of destination brand love.
Educational background High school and below 119 17.9 128 33.9
Model MLMχ2 df CFI SRMR Model △CFI
College 477 71.6 213 56.3
comparison
Postgraduate and above 68 10.2 37 9.8
Occupation Working 320 48.0 189 50.0 M1.Configural 238.031 18 0.948 0.043
Housewife 41 6.2 19 5.0 invariance
Student 209 31.4 102 27.0 M2.Weak 274.718 23 0.941 0.050 M2 vs. M1 0.007
Retired 30 4.5 18 4.8 invariance
Other 65 9.8 49 13.0 M3.Strong 299.785 28 0.936 0.050 M3 vs. M2 0.005
Monthly income <1000 131 19.7 74 19.6 invariance
1001–3000 111 16.7 72 19.0 M4.Strict 282.803 34 0.941 0.941 M4 vs. M3 0.005
3001–6000 126 18.9 113 29.9 invariance
6001–9000 181 27.2 69 18.3 M5.Latent mean 298.338 36 0.938 0.098 M5 vs. M4 0.003
>9001 116 17.4 50 13.2 invariance

7
H. Zhang et al. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454

Table 3 are equal. This finding is valuable in that it indicated that both previous
Results of CFA. and potential tourists can fall in love with a destination, which is
Construct/item Previous visitors Potential tourists consistent with the argument set out in literature review above.
(n ¼ 666) (n ¼ 378)

SFL CR(AVE) SFL CR(AVE) 5.3. Measurement model

Attractiveness 0.929 0.933
(0.724) (0.739) Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the psy­
AT1. Attractive 0.797 0.792 chological characteristics of the measurement mode using Mplus7.0
AT2. Classy 0.928 0.941
with MLM estimation. MLM estimation provides robust estimation re­
AT3. Handsome 0.935 0.926
AT4. Elegant 0.861 0.878 sults that are robust to multivariate non-normal distributed data (Wang
AT5. Sexy 0.715 0.744 & Wang, 2012). The model fits the data well (previous visitors: χ2 ¼
Trustworthiness 0.976 0.979 1080.763, df ¼ 289, CFI ¼ 0.946, TLI ¼ 0.939, RMSEA ¼ 0.064, SRMR
(0.889) (0.903) ¼ 0.057; potential tourists: χ2 ¼ 638.442, df ¼ 289, CFI ¼ 0.956, TLI ¼
TR1. Dependable 0.938 0.940
TR2. Honest 0.929 0.945
0.951, RMSEA ¼ 0.057, SRMR ¼ 0.051). The properties of the mea­
TR3. Reliable 0.950 0.956 surement model are presented in Table 3. In both groups, standardized
TR4. Sincere 0.956 0.959 factor loadings of all items on corresponding constructs were larger than
TR5. Trustworthy 0.940 0.951 0.70 and significant at p < 0.01 (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2013),
Expertise 0.943 0.945
all composite reliabilities (CR) were above 0.70, and all average vari­
(0.767) (0.775)
EX1. Expert 0.805 0.783 ances extracted (AVE) were greater than 0.50, indicating the convergent
EX2. Experienced 0.857 0.846 validity of each construct. As presented in Table 4, the square root of the
EX3. Knowledgeable 0.914 0.935 AVEs for all constructs were larger than their correlations with other
EX4. Qualified 0.910 0.926 constructs in two samples, supporting the discriminant validity of con­
EX5. Skilled 0.890 0.902
Parasocial interaction 0.937 0.928
structs (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2013).
(0.747) (0.720)
PI1. I think Andy Lau is like an old 0.860 0.856
5.4. Structural equation modeling
friend.
PI2. Andy Lau seems to understand the 0.888 0.865
kinds of things I want to know. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses of
PI3. If Andy Lau appeared on another 0.893 0.877 H1-H3. Both structural models fit the data well (previous visitors: χ2 ¼
television program, I would watch 1080.763, df ¼ 289, CFI ¼ 0.946, TLI ¼ 0.939, RMSEA ¼ 0.064, SRMR
that program.
PI4. I would like to meet Andy Lau in 0.812 0.772
¼ 0.057; potential tourists: χ2 ¼ 638.442, df ¼ 289, CFI ¼ 0.956, TLI ¼
person. 0.951, RMSEA ¼ 0.057, SRMR ¼ 0.051). As shown in Table 5 and Fig. 3,
PI5. I like to compare my ideas with 0.867 0.869 three hypotheses were supported in both groups. Specifically, parasocial
what Andy Lau says. interaction had a significant effect on destination brand love (previous
Destination brand love 0.941 0.949
visitors: β ¼ 0.0.448, p < 0.001; potential tourists: β ¼ 0.463, p < 0.001),
(0.730) (0.758)
DBL1. Hong Kong is a wonderful brand. 0.751 0.774 supporting H3. Attractiveness (previous visitors: λ ¼ 0.146, p < 0.001;
DBL2. Hong Kong makes me feel good. 0.792 0.812 potential tourists: λ ¼ 0.182, p < 0.001) and trustworthiness (previous
DBL3. Hong Kong is totally awesome. 0.725 0.804 visitors: λ ¼ 0.370, p < 0.001; potential tourists: λ ¼ 0.477, p < 0.001)
DBL4. I love Hong Kong. 0.918 0.935 significantly influenced parasocial interaction, providing support for
DBL5. I am passionate about Hong 0.954 0.946
H2a and H2b.
Kong.
DBL6. I am very attached to Hong 0.954 0.935 There were some group-specific findings as well. For previous visi­
Kong. tors, expertise (λ ¼ 0.183, p < 0.001) significantly influenced parasocial
Note: AT ¼ attractiveness, TR ¼ trustworthiness, EX ¼ expertise, PI ¼ parasocial
interaction, DBL ¼ destination brand love; SFL ¼ standardized factor loading, Table 5
CR ¼ composite reliability, AVE ¼ average variance extracted. Standardized direct, indirect, and total effects.
Previous visitors Direct Indirect (95% CI) Total (95%CI)
(n ¼ 666)
Table 4
H1a AT→DBL 0.056 0.065** (0.017, 0.113) 0.121(0.000,0.243)
Discriminant analysis. H1b TR→ DBL 0.035 0.166*** 0.201**(0.050,0.352)
Previous Construct 1 2 3 4 5 (0.101,0.231)
visitors (n 1. Attractiveness 0.851 H1c EX→ DBL 0.106 0.082*** 0.188**(0.049,0.327)
¼ 666) 2. 0.698 0.943 (0.031,0.132)
Trustworthiness H2a AT→PI 0.146**
3. Expertise 0.609 0.723 0.876 H2b TR→PI 0.370***
4. Parasocial 0.515 0.604 0.539 0.864 H2c EX→PI 0.183***
interaction H3 PI→DBL 0.448***
5. Brand love 0.376 0.422 0.407 0.555 0.854 Potential tourists Direct Indirect (95% CI) Total (95%CI)
Potential Construct 1 2 3 4 5 (n ¼ 378)
tourists (n 1. Attractiveness 0.860 H1a AT→DBL 0.162** 0.084*(0.014,0.154) 0.078(-0.207,0.051)
¼ 378) 2. 0.758 0.950 H1b TR→ DBL 0.275*** 0.221*** 0.495***
Trustworthiness (0.121,0.320) (0.351,0.640)
3. Expertise 0.586 0.671 0.880 H1c EX→ DBL 0.150* 0.050(-0.012,0.111) 0.200**(0.053,0.347)
4. Parasocial 0.606 0.687 0.534 0.848 H2a AT→PI 0.182**
interaction H2b TR→PI 0.477***
5. Brand love 0.415 0.571 0.487 0.633 0.871 H2c EX→PI 0.107
H3 PI→DBL 0.463***
Note. Diagonal elements are the square root of AVE for each construct. Below
diagonal elements are the correlations between constructs. Note: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; AT ¼ attractiveness, TR ¼ trust­
worthiness, EX ¼ expertise, PI ¼ parasocial interaction, DBL ¼ destination brand
love; CI ¼ confidence interval; Bootstrap ¼ 2000.

8
H. Zhang et al.
Fig. 3. Structural model for previous and potential visitors (t-value in parentheses).
interaction, supporting for H2c. The influences of attractiveness (λ ¼
0.056, p > 0.05), trustworthiness (λ ¼ 0.035, p > 0.05), and expertise (λ
¼ 0.106, p > 0.05) on destination brand love were insignificant,
rejecting H1a, H1b, and H1c. For potential tourists, trustworthiness (λ ¼
0.275, p < 0.001) and expertise (λ ¼ 0.150, p < 0.05) significantly
influenced destination brand love, providing support for H1b and H1c.
Expertise had no significant effect on parasocial interaction (λ ¼ 0.107,
p > 0.05), rejecting H2c. Although attractiveness had a significant
impact on destination brand love (λ ¼ 0.162, p < 0.01), the direction
was contrary to the study’s hypothesis, hence H1a was rejected. The
variances of destination brand love and parasocial interaction explained
by their antecedents were 39.7% and 32.8% for previous visitors, and
49.5% and 49.5% for potential tourists, respectively.
5.5. Mediating effects
The bootstrapping method (bootstrap ¼ 2000) was used to test the
mediating effects of celebrity characteristics on destination brand love.
The bootstrapping method is considered to be better than other
methods, such as the distribution of product method and Sobel test, in
testing mediating effects (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). According to this
method, a 95% confidence interval of indirect effect that does not
contain zero provides evidence for mediating effect. All standardized
direct, indirect, and total effects are shown in Table 5.
The results showed that all the 95% bootstrap confidence intervals of
indirect effects from attractiveness (previous visitors: β ¼ 0.065, p <
0.01, 95%CI [0.017, 0.113]; potential tourists: β ¼ 0.084, p < 0.05, 95%
9
Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454
CI [0.014, 0.154]) and trustworthiness (previous visitors: β ¼ 0.166, p <
0.001, 95%CI [0.101, 0.231]; potential tourists: β ¼ 0.221, p < 0.001,
95%CI [0.121, 0.320]) to destination brand love did not contain zero in
both groups, and thus, H4a and H4b were supported. For previous vis­
itors, parasocial interaction mediates the impact of expertise on desti­
nation brand love (β ¼ 0.082, p < 0.05, 95%CI [0.031, 0.132]).
However, this effect was not found in potential tourists group (β ¼
0.050, p > 0.05, 95%CI [-0.012, 0.111]). In both groups, the total effect
of attractiveness on destination brand love were insignificant (previous
visitors: β ¼ 0.121, p > 0.05, 95%CI [0.000, 0.243]; potential tourists: β
¼ 0.078, p > 0.05, 95%CI [-0.207, 0.051]). All other total effects were
significant for both samples.
5.6. Test for H5
In order to test H5, the total effects of attractiveness, trustworthiness,
and expertise were calculated and compared using Mplus 7.0 model test
command (see Table 6). Mplus provides a Wald Chi-Squared test to
compare the estimates. In the previous visitors group, the total effects of
trustworthiness and expertise on destination brand love were not
significantly greater than that of attractiveness. In the potential tourists
group, the total effects of trustworthiness and expertise on destination
brand love were significantly greater than that of attractiveness. Spe­
cifically (see Table 5), the total effects of trustworthiness (β ¼ 0.495, p <
0.001) and expertise (β ¼ 0.200, p < 0.01) on destination brand love
were significant, while the total effect of attractiveness on destination
brand love was insignificant (β ¼ 0.078, p > 0.05).
H. Zhang et al. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454

Table 6 of attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise on parasocial interac­

Results of H5. tion, and the effect of parasocial interaction on destination brand love.
Previous visitors (n ¼ Wald χ2 (p-value) The results of hypothesis test are summarized in Table 8.
666)

Model comparison Direct effect Indirect effect total effect 6. Conclusions

AT→DBL vs. TR→DBL 0.049(p ¼ 5.887(p < 0.405(p ¼
0.825) 0.05) 0.525) This study investigated the characteristics (i.e. attractiveness, trust­
AT→DBL vs. EX→DBL 0.408(p ¼ 0.438(p ¼ 0.674(p ¼
worthiness, and expertise) of celebrity endorsers on destination brand
0.523) 0.598) 0.412)
Potential tourist (n ¼ Wald χ2 (p-value)
love from the perspective of parasocial interaction across two different
378) groups: previous visitors and potential tourists. Compared with previous
Model comparison Direct effect Indirect effect total effect studies, which have defined destination brand love as a post-travel bond,
AT→DBL vs. TR→DBL 15.907(p < 3.571(p ¼ 28.387(p < this study confirmed that both previous visitors and potential tourists
0.001) 0.059) 0.001)
can form a love relationship with a destination brand, which is in accord
AT→DBL vs. EX→DBL 10.736(p < 0.348(p ¼ 8.056(p < 0.01)
0.01) 0.555) with the FCB model (Vaughn, 1986). However, the effects of celebrity
endorsement on destination brand love differ between previous visitors
Note: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; AT ¼ attractiveness, TR ¼ trust­
and potential tourists. Potential tourists are more likely fall in love with
worthiness, EX ¼ expertise, PI ¼ parasocial interaction, DBL ¼ destination brand
a destination because of the trustworthiness and expertise of the ce­
love.
lebrity endorsers, implying that celebrity endorsers who are considered
to be honest, reliable, experienced, and qualified in endorsing a specific
5.7. Moderating effects
destination are more likely to induce a deep emotional attachment of
potential tourists to the destination brand. The findings are consistent
Multi-group analysis using Mplus 7.0 was conducted to examine the
with the balance theory (Su et al., 2011), the source attractiveness and
moderating effects of respondents’ status (Wang & Wang, 2012). The
credibility models (Ohanian, 1990), and the tripartite
model test command in Mplus can be easily conducted to check estimate
attachment-endorsement model (Saldanha et al., 2018). However, the
differences across two groups. The results (see Table 7) showed that the
characteristics of celebrity endorsers do not directly influence destina­
direct and total effects of attractiveness on destination brand love were
tion brand love for previous visitors, implying that celebrity endorsers
different across two groups. Specifically, attractiveness negatively
serve as an important external information source, while previous visi­
affected destination brand love (λ ¼ 0.162, p < 0.01) for potential
tors may form their feelings based on personal experience. This finding
tourists, while this effect was insignificant for previous visitors (λ ¼
is consistent with Zhang et al.’s (2017) suggestion that external infor­
0.056, p > 0.05). The total effects of attractiveness on destination brand
mation sources (e.g. celebrity endorsers) have a greater influence on
love for previous visitors (β ¼ 0.121, p > 0.05) and potential tourists (β
tourists who have less brand knowledge than those have more brand
¼ 0.078, p > 0.05) were insignificant.
knowledge.
The direct and total effects of trustworthiness on destination brand
The results suggest that attractiveness, trustworthiness, and exper­
love were also different across two groups. Specifically, trustworthiness
tise of celebrity endorsers positively influence parasocial interactions for
affected destination brand love (λ ¼ 0.275, p < 0.01) for potential
both previous visitors and potential tourists, indicating that tourists can
tourists, while this effect was insignificant for previous visitors (λ ¼
form a platonic parasocial relationship with celebrity endorser by just
0.036, p > 0.05). The total effects of trustworthiness on destination
viewing their photos in advertisement messages. The findings are in
brand love for previous visitors (β ¼ 0.201, p < 0.01) and potential
accord with the theory of parasocial interaction in mass communication
tourists (β ¼ 0.495, p < 0.001) were significant, while this effect was
(e.g. Choi et al., 2019; Kim & Kim, 2017). The study further confirms
larger in potential tourists than previous visitors. To summarize, H6b
that a parasocial interaction is more likely to be established between
and H8b were supported, while H6a, H6c, H7a, H7b, H7c, H8a, and H8c
tourists and those attractive, knowledgeable, and reliable celebrity en­
were not supported. Besides, the results showed that there were no
dorsers, which is consistent with Yuan et al.’s (2016) findings.
differences between previous tourists and potential tourists in the effects
Findings also indicate that parasocial interaction has a positive effect
on destination brand love. According to attachment theory (Saldanha
Table 7 et al., 2018), greater familiarity can lead to more positive feelings, while
Moderating effects. familiarity originates from interactions. Although a parasocial interac­
Direct effect Estimates Wald χ2 (p-value) tion is a platonic interaction and always mediated, individuals perceive
it to be very similar to a face-to-face interaction (Rubin & Perse, 1987).
Previous visitors Potential tourists
Parasocial interactions between tourists and celebrity endorsers would
H6a AT→DBL 0.056 0.162** 7.643(0.006) increase the familiarity of tourists towards the celebrity endorsers, and
H6b TR→ DBL 0.036 0.275*** 5.388(0.020)
H6c EX→ DBL 0.107 0.150* 0.257(0.613)
thus, foster tourists’ emotional attachment towards the celebrity en­
PI→DBL 0.448*** 0.462*** 0.234(0.629) dorsers. According to affect transfer theory (Biswas et al., 2006) and the
AT→PI 0.146** 0.182** 0.094(0.759) tripartite model of attachment (Saldanha et al., 2018), this emotional
TR→PI 0.371*** 0.475*** 0.757(0.384) attachment to an endorser is likely to result in the formation of
EX→PI 0.182*** 0.108 1.202(0.273)
emotional attachment and love toward the destination brand.
Indirect effect Estimates Wald χ2 (p-value)
Previous visitors Potential tourists The current study finds that parasocial interaction mediates the ef­
H7a AT→DBL 0.065** 0.084* 0.210(0.647) fects of attractiveness and trustworthiness on destination brand love for
H7b TR→ DBL 0.166*** 0.221*** 0.868(0.352) previous and potential visitors, which further reveal the mechanisms
H7c EX→ DBL 0.082*** 0.050 0.794(0.373) underlying of impact of celebrity endorsement on destination brand
Total effect Estimates Wald χ2 (p-value)
Previous visitors Potential tourists
love. This finding is in accord with previous studies which have found
H8a AT→DBL 0.121 0.078 5.789(0.016) that parasocial interaction plays a mediating effect on the links between
H8b TR→ DBL 0.201** 0.495*** 7.435(0.006) the characteristics of an influencer (e.g. perceived authenticity, attrac­
H8c EX→ DBL 0.188** 0.200** 0.358(0.550) tiveness, fashionableness, competence, and honesty) and relational
Note: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; AT ¼ attractiveness, TR ¼ trust­ outcomes (e.g. brand attachment, satisfaction, and brand equity) (Choi
worthiness, EX ¼ expertise, PI ¼ parasocial interaction, DBL ¼ destination brand et al., 2019; Yuan et al., 2019). This result can be explained by the social
love. influence theory, which suggests that consumers’ attitude

10
H. Zhang et al. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454

Table 8
Summary of hypotheses test results.
Hypotheses Results

Previous Potential

H1(a) Attractiveness→ Destination brand love � �

H1(b) Trustworthiness→ Destination brand love � ✓
H1(c) Expertise→ Destination brand love � ✓
H2(a) Attractiveness→ Parasocial interaction ✓ ✓
H2(b) Trustworthiness→ Parasocial interaction ✓ ✓
H2(c) Expertise→ Parasocial interaction ✓ �
H3 Parasocial interaction → Destination brand love. ✓ ✓
H4(a) Attractiveness → Parasocial→ Destination brand love ✓ ✓
H4(b) Trustworthiness→ Parasocial→ Destination brand love ✓ ✓
H4(c) Expertise→ Parasocial→ Destination brand love ✓ �
H5(a) The effect of trustworthiness on brand love is larger than the effect of attractiveness on brand love. � ✓
H5(b) The effect of expertise on brand love is larger than the effect of attractiveness on brand love. � ✓
H6(a) The direct effect of attractiveness on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. �
H6(b) The direct effect of trustworthiness on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. ✓
H6(c) The direct effect of expertise on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. �
H7(a) The indirect effect of attractiveness on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. �
H7(b) The indirect effect of trustworthiness on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. �
H7(d) The indirect effect of expertise on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. �
H8(a) The total effect of attractiveness on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. �
H8(b) The total effect of trustworthiness on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. ✓
H8(c) The total effect of expertise on destination brand love is larger for potential tourists than previous visitors. �

formation/change occurs through the processes of internalization and attractiveness-related products, for example facial cream (Veen & Song,
identification (Biswas et al., 2006). Parasocial interactions, like 2014), and a tourist destination does not fall into this category.
face-to-face interactions and real relationships, can lead to internaliza­
tion and identification (Oliver et al., 2019), and therefore exert impacts
6.1. Theoretical contributions
on destination brand love.
This study also finds that the total effects of expertise and trust­
This study contributes to the knowledge in the field in several ways,
worthiness on destination brand love are larger than that of attractive­
including brand love, celebrity endorsement, and parasocial in­
ness among potential tourists. This result reveals the different
teractions. Destination brand love is a relatively new concept that can
mechanisms of expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness on desti­
provide new insights. Love, which describes a strong feeling of affection,
nation brand love formation process. Kelman (2006) argued that
can be applied to describe a deep tourist-destination bond. Although
expertise and trustworthiness persuade consumers through internaliza­
destination brand love can have significant impact on tourists’ attitudes
tion, while attractiveness influences consumers through identification.
and behaviors towards a destination, only a small number of studies
When tourists’ attitudes are formed through the internalization process,
have empirically examined destination brand love. By investigating
those attitudes would last for a long time even after the source of the
destination the antecedents of brand love and its underlying mecha­
message is forgotten (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000), because the attitude of
nisms, this study provides destination marketers with fresh insights into
the celebrity is integrated into the tourist’s value system (Belch & Belch,
how to improve a destination’s competitive advantages. Compared with
2018). When tourists’ attitudes are formed through identification,
most existing constructs, which have focused on on-site or post-visit
tourists would not integrate the celebrity’s attitudes into their own
experiences, destination brand love covers the whole range of pre-
belief system (Kelman, 2006). Thus, the effect would have short-lived
visit, on-site, and post-visit experiences, and therefore opens a
impact unless the celebrity remains attractive (Belch & Belch, 2018).
completely new perspective when studying tourist-destination bonds.
This study finds that both the direct and total effects of trustwor­
Destination marketers can use destination brand love as a tool to keep
thiness on destination brand love are larger for potential tourists than
previous visitors, and can also be used to attract more potential tourists.
previous visitors, indicating that celebrity endorsement, as an infor­
This study also contributes to the existing knowledge on celebrity
mation source and brand communication strategy, has a different effect
endorsement by examining its effect on destination brand love. The most
on destination brand love across previous visitors and potential tourists.
studied outcomes of celebrity endorsement in previous studies were
This finding is consistent with Zhang et al.’s (2017) finding that po­
financial effects (e.g. sales and share prices) and persuasion (e.g. brand
tential tourists (compared with previous visitors) are more likely to rely
attitude, brand evaluations, and purchase intention) (Knoll & Matthes,
on external information sources to establish their brand emotion
2017). Compared with these outcome variables, destination brand love
because of their lack of destination knowledge. There was no significant
is a deep, long-term tourist-destination brand relationship (Batra et al.,
difference in the total effect of expertise on destination brand love across
2012). As well, since it involves the whole spectrum of pre-visit, on-site,
previous visitors and potential tourists, indicating that celebrity en­
and post-visit experiences, destination brand love can be used as a
dorsers are equally effective for previous visitors and potential tourists
standard to measure the effectiveness of an endorsement, as it is
when they are knowledgeable, experienced, and qualified to represent
considered as a stable construct that can predict tourists’ actual behavior
the destination brand they are endorsing.
(Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006).
A notable finding of this study is that attractiveness of celebrity en­
This study finds that a parasocial interaction is an important theo­
dorsers negatively affects destination brand love for potential tourists.
retical mechanism underlying the relationship between characteristics
This result is consistent with Venn and Song’s (2014) finding that the
of a celebrity endorser and destination brand love. Celebrity endorse­
attractiveness of celebrity endorsers does not significantly influence
ment can directly and indirectly influence tourists’ attitudes and be­
tourists’ attitudes toward a destination. This result can be explained by
haviors (Veen & Song, 2014). Most of previous studies have adopted a
the match-up hypothesis regarding celebrity endorsement (Koernig &
social influence perspective and identified internalization and identifi­
Boyd, 2009). Previous research has reported that physically attractive
cation as mediators of celebrity endorsement and attitude change (Belch
endorsers have positive effects on consumers’ attitudes only for
& Belch, 2018). This study, based on social relationship theory, finds

11
H. Zhang et al.
that parasocial interactions mediate the relationship between the ce­
lebrity endorsement and destination brand love, and hence expands the
understanding of both celebrity endorsement effects and destination
brand love.
The current study also promotes the celebrity endorsements effects
by comparing the effects of attractiveness, expertise and trustworthiness
on destination brand love. Although many theories, such as source
attractiveness credibility models (Ohanian, 1990) and social influence
theory (Kelman, 2006), assert that different characteristics of a celebrity
endorser have different effects on consumers’ attitudes and behaviors
via different mechanisms, there has been little empirical research on this
issue. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to
provide empirical evidence on this issue. This finding provides a theo­
retical basis for destination marketers on how to choose the right ce­
lebrity to endorse a destination brand.
This study also enriches the literature on destination brand love by
investigating the effects of celebrity endorsement on destination brand
love on both potential tourists and previous visitors. As this study sug­
gests, both potential tourists and previous visitors can fall in love with a
destination endorsed by a celebrity. However, the effects of celebrity
endorsement on destination brand love are different between potential
tourists and previous visitors, and this study provides a cornerstone to
investigate the differences between previous and potential visitors’
destination brand love.
6.2. Management implications
The findings of this study provide valuable managerial insights for
destination marketers. First, destination brand love can be used for
destination marketers as a strategic tool to gain competitive advantages.
Both potential tourists and previous visitors are important stakeholders
for a destination brand, and this study finds that both types of visitors
can fall in love with a destination brand, which can induce a series of
emotional and behavioral responses. Thus, it is critical that destination
marketers understand the importance of destination brand love and
make full use of it. Destination brand love can be used as a strategic tool
to attract new tourists, as well as a strategy to retain existing tourists,
and in an increasingly competitive environment where tourists are
increasingly difficult to satisfy, fostering a love relationship between
tourists and destinations is crucial.
Second, the findings of this study suggest that the effects of celebrity
endorsement on destination brand love can be different between pre­
vious visitors and potential tourists. Specifically, the trustworthiness
and expertise of a celebrity positively affect destination brand love, and
attractiveness negatively affects destination brand love for potential
tourists. While for previous tourists, those characteristics do not affect
destination brand love. It is therefore recommended that destination
marketers employ different strategies to encourage their target tourists
to love the destination. For potential tourists, destination marketers
should choose celebrity endorsers who are considered trustworthy,
knowledgeable, and experienced with the destination. Although the
source attractiveness model suggests a positive effect of celebrity
attractiveness on brand evaluations (Ohanian, 1990), this study finds
that attractiveness is not a good criterion. Furthermore, it is better to
employee a local celebrity rather than an international celebrity,
because local celebrities are more likely to be perceived as knowledge­
able and reliable (Veen & Song, 2014). For previous visitors, celebrity
Appendix A. Descriptive statistics for all survey items
12
Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454
endorsement is not an ideal strategy to cultivate destination brand love,
as the attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise of a celebrity do not
directly influence destination brand love in these visitors.
Third, although the effects of the trustworthiness and expertise at­
tributes of a celebrity on destination brand love for potential tourists and
previous visitors are different, parasocial interaction mediates these
effects. This finding is especially important for previous visitors because
the direct effects of celebrity endorsement on destination brand love
were not found in this group. Therefore, destination marketers are
advised to improve brand love through shaping tourists’ parasocial
interaction experiences. Carefully choosing a celebrity to spur tourists’
motivations for a brand-love relationship can help intensify parasocial
interactions. Message cues that signal interactivity and openness in
communication are considered as drivers of parasocial interaction
(Labrecque, 2014), and destination marketers can carefully design their
message content and cues to foster tourists’ love toward the destination
brand.
Although a print advertisement was used in this study, the findings
can also be applied in an online setting, because printed advertisements
can be delivered electronically, and online and social media greatly
facilitate parasocial interactions because of their interactive features. In
this sense, it is advised to employ both traditional and online media to
deliver celebrity endorsement advertisements in order to establish an
intimacy between tourists and a destination brand, which can signifi­
cantly increase destination brand love.
6.3. Limitations and future studies
The investigation of destination brand love would be an interesting
topic for further research. First, future studies are needed to replicate the
framework proposed in this study to test its applicability to other forms
of media (e.g. TV, Internet, and social media). Second, this study only
examined the effects of celebrity endorsement on destination brand love
from the perspective of parasocial interactions. However, destination
brand love is a complex psychological and social phenomenon. Further
research is necessary to empirically study other antecedents and out­
comes, especially for potential tourists. Third, destination brand love is a
quite new topic. Future researchers can employ a mixed methods
approach to refine the mechanism, or take a longitudinal design to
replicate this study.
Declaration of competing interest
We have no conflict of interest to declare.
This research has not been submitted for publication nor has it been
published in whole or in part elsewhere. We attest to the fact that all
Authors listed have contributed significantly to the work, have read the
manuscript, attest to the validity and legitimacy of the data and its
interpretation, and agree to its submission to the Journal of Destination
Marketing and Management.
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank the financial support from the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71974214 and No.
71602194). We also thank Dr. Robert van der Veen for his advice on
improving the quality of the advertisement used in our study.
H. Zhang et al. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 17 (2020) 100454

Previous visitors (n ¼ 666) Potential tourists (n ¼ 378)

Item Mean Standard deviation Skewness Kurtosis Mean Standard deviation Skewness Kurtosis

AT1 5.033 1.476 0.569 0.003 4.884 1.583 0.469 0.256

AT2 5.278 1.372 0.583 0.047 5.177 1.506 0.698 0.104
AT3 5.311 1.340 0.562 0.048 5.196 1.533 0.644 0.077
AT4 5.251 1.352 0.591 0.074 5.146 1.520 0.640 0.011
AT5 4.667 1.556 0.328 0.469 4.548 1.664 0.349 0.415
TR1 5.134 1.317 0.668 0.546 5.056 1.526 0.594 0.044
TR2 5.168 1.330 0.641 0.398 5.114 1.498 0.562 0.114
TR3 5.086 1.379 0.565 0.101 5.040 1.507 0.502 0.215
TR4 5.111 1.363 0.548 0.135 5.037 1.543 0.493 0.333
TR5 5.125 1.367 0.570 0.114 5.093 1.467 0.551 0.041
EX1 4.746 1.352 0.271 0.068 4.751 1.441 0.200 0.215
EX2 5.321 1.340 0.820 0.713 5.312 1.438 0.785 0.283
EX3 5.069 1.316 0.581 0.377 5.111 1.421 0.621 0.179
EX4 5.072 1.329 0.541 0.275 5.050 1.478 0.597 0.108
EX5 5.350 1.300 0.801 0.692 5.296 1.474 0.776 0.115
PI1 4.363 1.710 0.348 0.654 4.280 1.757 0.147 0.804
PI2 4.161 1.701 0.133 0.753 4.037 1.776 0.028 0.850
PI3 4.417 1.607 0.251 0.605 4.376 1.807 0.162 0.931
PI4 4.496 1.777 0.292 0.891 4.527 1.892 0.291 1.053
PI5 4.039 1.766 0.077 0.885 4.140 1.861 0.025 1.017
DBL1 5.230 1.358 0.809 0.525 5.053 1.509 0.644 0.042
DBL2 5.071 1.396 0.669 0.144 4.865 1.576 0.512 0.264
DBL3 4.451 1.611 0.263 0.636 4.283 1.799 0.204 0.886
DBL4 4.779 1.457 0.378 0.210 4.466 1.672 0.193 0.751
DBL5 4.820 1.490 0.510 0.119 4.577 1.647 0.260 0.702
DBL6 4.821 1.561 0.549 0.213 4.566 1.670 0.245 0.740
Note. AT ¼ attractiveness, TR ¼ trustworthiness, EX ¼ expertise, PI ¼ parasocial interaction, DBL ¼ destination brand love.

Appendix B. Independent sample t-tests on celebrity endorser characteristics between male and female samples

Previous visitors (n ¼ 666) Potential tourists (n ¼ 378)

Gender Mean t-value p-value Mean t-value p-value

AT1 Male 5.010 -.385 .700 5.034 2.056 .040

Female 5.054 4.698
AT2 Male 5.180 1.738 .083 5.278 2.049 .041
Female 5.364 5.053
AT3 Male 5.180 2.382 .017 5.316 1.434 .152
Female 5.427 5.047
AT4 Male 5.147 1.855 .064 5.258 1.677 .095
Female 5.342 5.006
AT5 Male 4.651 -.249 .803 4.598 1.598 .111
Female 4.681 4.485
TR1 Male 5.067 1.221 .223 5.211 .653 .514
Female 5.192 4.864
TR2 Male 5.039 2.370 .018 5.254 2.203 .028
Female 5.283 4.941
TR3 Male 5.042 -.772 .441 5.196 2.020 .044
Female 5.124 4.846
TR4 Male 5.042 1.235 .217 5.124 2.259 .024
Female 5.172 4.929
TR5 Male 5.080 -.788 .431 5.201 1.231 .219
Female 5.164 4.959
EX1 Male 4.712 -.622 .534 4.766 1.596 .111
Female 4.777 4.734
EX2 Male 5.224 1.756 .079 5.330 .212 .833
Female 5.407 5.290
EX3 Male 4.971 1.806 .071 5.153 .269 .788
Female 5.155 5.059
EX4 Male 4.990 1.491 .137 5.115 .634 .527
Female 5.144 4.970
EX5 Male 5.237 2.106 .036 5.335 .942 .347
Female 5.449 5.249
Note: AT ¼ attractiveness, TR ¼ trustworthiness, EX ¼ expertise, PI ¼ parasocial interaction, DBL ¼ destination brand love; CI ¼ confidence interval; Bootstrap ¼ 2000

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