In the digital era, tourism promotion has shifted to short videos, and tourism marketers increasingly collaborate with short-video influencers for promotional purposes. Bloggers exhibit different levels of emotional expression intensity in their videos. As tourism is a hedonic experience, blogger emotions significantly influence travel intention. Following the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM), this research examines how strong emotional expressions affect travel intentions and whether individual emotional susceptibility moderates this relationship. By integrating behavioral and EEG data, the study fills a research gap by revealing how high-intensity affect triggers consumer approach motivation through psychological and neural pathways, offering new insights into the emotional mechanisms of social media persuasion.
The study used a multi-method design with two experiments. Experiment 1 employed a 2 (emotional intensity: strong vs. weak) × 2 (emotional susceptibility: high vs. low) between-subjects design with 223 participants. Intensity was manipulated in the video using vocal tone, music, and facial expressions of the bloggers. Experiment 2 further provided neural evidence using an EEG mixed design with 47 participants. Frontal Alpha Asymmetry (FAA) was recorded at F3 and F4 electrodes to objectively measure approach motivation. By combining subjective self-reports from behavioral scales with objective neurophysiological signals, the research ensured high validity.
Data analysis yielded significant results across behavioral and neural levels. Experiment 1 showed a significant main effect of emotional intensity, where strong expressions led to higher self-reported travel intentions. Crucially, a significant interaction was found: this effect was only significant for participants with high emotional susceptibility, while low-susceptibility individuals remained unaffected. Experiment 2 replicated these patterns using EEG data. High-intensity emotional expressions triggered significantly higher FAA indices, indicating stronger approach motivation toward the destination. Similar to behavioral results, the interaction between emotional intensity and susceptibility was significant for FAA. These consistent findings confirm the strong effect of emotional cues, particularly for audiences naturally sensitive to emotional information.
In conclusion, emotional expression intensity is a fundamental driver of travel intention in short videos. Strong emotional displays act as heuristic cues that facilitate emotional contagion, allowing viewers to adopt the blogger’s positive affect which further enhances their travel intention. Furthermore, individual emotional susceptibility serves as a critical boundary condition for this effect. While high-intensity expressions generally promote travel intention, their impact is significantly enhanced among consumers with higher level of emotional susceptibility. In summary, travel intention formation is an affect-driven process, where strong emotional intensity triggers biological and behavioral responses in consumers with high susceptibility.
These findings offer practical guidance for bloggers, marketers, and platforms. Bloggers should maintain a high-energy, passionate state to maximize their persuasive impact, as enthusiastic delivery is more effective than neutral reporting. Tourism marketers should prioritize collaborations with influencers who possess strong emotional vitality. Additionally, platform managers can optimize recommendation algorithms to identify consumers with high emotional susceptibility based on historical browsing data. By specifically targeting these sensitive segments with high-arousal emotional content, brands can significantly improve advertising efficiency and conversion rates. Overall, the research highlights the necessity of using emotional intensity as a strategic tool in the modern e-commerce landscape to capture consumer attention and drive meaningful behavioral changes.