The Role of TV Commercial Visuals in Forming Memorable and Impressive Destination Images

Tourism TV commercials (TVCs) are one of the channels (or agents) used to form destination images, yet this channel is rarely researched. The objectives of this article are to identify the relations among visual elements, TVC effects, and destination image formation. University students who have never visited New Zealand nor watched New Zealand's latest tourism TVCs were recruited to participate in a TVC recall test. The audience found video frames of snow and water, dolphins, and hongi (a traditional Maori greeting) to be most memorable and impressive. Findings suggest that something old (i.e., something familiar to viewers), something new (i.e., something that cannot be seen or done in the viewer's immediate environment), and something white and something blue (i.e., clean and pristine) should be included when developing promotional tourism videos. Video frames showing people's interaction among themselves and with the environment were positively related to audience desires to visit the depicted destination.