When the Unknown Destination Comes Alive: The Detrimental Effects of Destination Anthropomorphism in Tourism

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“…Moreover, as anthropomorphism imbues non-human entities with human-like traits and characteristics, the way individuals approach interpersonal interactionssuch as their social power beliefs, the way they categorize others as either in-groups or out-groupsmight pose substantial impact on how they respond to anthropomorphized advertising, brands, products and/or services. Congenially, prior research has documented how individual difference constructs influences the implications of anthropomorphism on risk perception (Kwak et al, 2020). For instance, anthropomorphized risk-bearing entities are more likely to signal greater risks when consumers lack social power (vs. possessing high social power; Kim and McGill, 2011) or when perceived as out-group entities (vs. in-group entities; Kwak et al, 2020).…”

“…Congenially, prior research has documented how individual difference constructs influences the implications of anthropomorphism on risk perception (Kwak et al, 2020). For instance, anthropomorphized risk-bearing entities are more likely to signal greater risks when consumers lack social power (vs. possessing high social power; Kim and McGill, 2011) or when perceived as out-group entities (vs. in-group entities; Kwak et al, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, as anthropomorphism imbues non-human entities with human-like traits and characteristics, the way individuals approach interpersonal interactions – such as their social power beliefs, the way they categorize others as either in-groups or out-groups – might pose substantial impact on how they respond to anthropomorphized advertising, brands, products and/or services. Congenially, prior research has documented how individual difference constructs influences the implications of anthropomorphism on risk perception (Kwak et al. , 2020).…”

“…, 2020). For instance, anthropomorphized risk-bearing entities are more likely to signal greater risks when consumers lack social power (vs. possessing high social power; Kim and McGill, 2011) or when perceived as out-group entities (vs. in-group entities; Kwak et al. , 2020).…”

To Whom Does Destination Anthropomorphism Appeal? Power and Perceived Control

“…This body of work builds upon prior research focusing on destination brand love (Amaro, Barroco, and Antunes 2020), destination image (Tse and Tung 2022), place attachment (Prayag and Ryan 2012), destination loyalty (Stylos and Bellou 2019), and destination personality (Bekk, Spörrle, and Kruse 2016), all treating a destination as a "person" in some way.Prior research has examined whether destination anthropomorphism is beneficial in attracting potential tourists. Kwak et al (2020), most notably, found that anthropomorphizing culturally-distant destinations reduces travelers' travel intentions to those destinations, with cultural distance defined in terms of how similar or different the destination culture is to one's own (e.g., a Japanese tourist would consider France to be culturally-distant). The authors thus identified cultural distance as a potential moderator for the effects of destination advertising on travel intentions.…”