The influence of Chinese young audiences' involvement, perceived destination image, place attachment on their behavioral intentions to Phuket, Thailand: A case study of Thai TV series "I Told Sunset About You"

Abstract

Film tourism has gained significant attention in the past decade, however, there is a lack of research that addresses audience perceptions and behavioral intentions regarding an unvisited destination after watching a film or television (TV) series. This study aims to fill this gap by applying audience involvement theory to examine its influence on audiences’ perceived destination image, place attachment, and behavioral intentions toward the depicted destination in the pre-visit stage. The Thai series TV "I Told Sunset About You" was conducted as a case study and a quantitative method was used. A self-administered questionnaire was employed as the research instrument. 564 young Chinese who had seen the TV series but had never visited Phuket, Thailand, were recruited as participants using a non-probability sampling method. Descriptive statistical analysis was utilized to summarize the participants' profiles and their level of involvement in the series TV, their perceptions of the destination's image, their attachment to the place, and their behavioral intentions toward Phuket. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the reliability and validity of the proposed theoretical model. Structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the relationship between audience involvement, destination image, place attachment, and behavioral intentions. The results of this study indicate that the level of involvement in a TV series has a positive effect on perceptions of destination image and attachment to the featured destination. In addition, destination image has a positive effect on place attachment. Furthermore, both destination image and place attachment have a significant influence on audience behavioral intentions in the pre-visit stage. This study offers unique theoretical and managerial implications for film tourism research and destination marketing organizations (DMOs).