EXPLORING EFFECTS OF CHINESE PASTORAL VIDEOS ON TRAVEL AND DIFFUSION INTENTIONS

Abstract

This study focuses on the effects of Chinese Pastoral Videos on YouTube, which has a growing influence in today’s changing media environment, and aims to apply them to tourism industry and cultural export. In addition, this study also explores the influence of the Chinese pastoral videos on viewers’ intention and behavior. To achieve, three factors were investigated in terms of their influence on travel and diffusion intentions, i.e., the characteristics of the Chinese pastoral videos influencers, the characteristics of the videos’ content, and the para-social interaction(PSI) with influencers. In order to empirically verify them, a sample of 396 adults from the United States was employed and further assessed through a statistical modeling approach, that is, structural equation modelling (SEM). The results of the assessment show: 1) Chinese pastoral videos influencers’ physical attractiveness, trustworthiness, information, technicality, and the entertainment of the content have a positive effect on travel intention and diffusion intention; 2) the influencer’s physical attractiveness, familiarity, content’s information, technicality, and entertainment have a significant positive effect on cognitive PSI; 3) the influencer’s physical attractiveness, trustworthiness, familiarity, as well as content’s technicality have a significant positive effect on behavioral PSI. Para-social interaction, be it cognitive or behavioral, was found to be related to both travel intention and diffusion intention. These two kinds of interactions was found to mediate between the characteristics of the Chinese pastoral videos, and the characteristics of the videos’ content. With the attained results, the current study proposes several considerations for the tourism industry and culture export seeking to use Chinese pastoral videos for publicizing China’s traditional culture and destinations: Emphasis should be given on the importance of physical attractiveness of and trust on the influencers, the information, and the entertainment of the content provided, and the cognitive para-social interaction with influencers. In addition, the objectives of using Chinese pastoral videos and different combinations of influencers’ characteristics and the characteristics of the content were also investigated.