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Perceptions of gun violence in the US as a moderator of international tourism advertising effectiveness

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Abstract

This study considers the role that consumer perception of gun violence in a foreign country plays in attitude formation toward potential travel to that country as well as toward its government and citizens. A pre-post online study conducted in Australia that used the current Brand USA’s ‘Land of Dreams’ television commercial as the experimental stimulus provided the data for analysis. Responses from Australians who wrote as part of their open-ended associations with the United States that the United States is violent or unsafe were compared with Australian respondents who did not mention violence. Results indicated that perceptions of gun violence appear not only to moderate the effectiveness of current US tourism advertising but also to influence prospective travelers’ attitudes toward the US government. Results are considered in light of a recent murder of an Australian athlete living in the United States and the negative publicity resulting from that incident.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Media & Strategic Communications, Oklahoma State University, 700 N. Greenwood Ave., Tulsa, 74106, Oklahoma, USA

    Jami A Fullerton

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  1. Jami A Fullerton
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  2. Alice Kendrick
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Correspondence to Jami A Fullerton.

Additional information

1PhD is a professor in the School of Media and Strategic Communications and holds the Peggy Layman Welch Endowed Chair in Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Fullerton’s current research program is focused on mediated public diplomacy efforts since 9/11. She has published numerous studies in national and international academic journals, books and blogs.

2PhD is professor in the Temerlin Advertising Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she teaches communication research and strategy courses. Her research about branding and public diplomacy, promotional strategies and higher education have appeared in national and international journals and the trade press.

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Fullerton, J., Kendrick, A. Perceptions of gun violence in the US as a moderator of international tourism advertising effectiveness. Place Brand Public Dipl 11, 101–110 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2014.32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2014.32

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