Impact of prior knowledge and psychological distance on tourist imagination of a promoted tourism event

Abstract Experiential marketing has emerged as an effective strategy to promote hedonic tourism and hospitality experiences through stimulating tourist imagination and positive emotions. This study aims to broaden the existing literature by exploring potential imagination facilitator and/or inhibitor in the context of a local tourism event, “The White Party” on the Gold Coast, with a sample of 655 participants. Structural equation model (SEM) using SmartPLS software and cluster analysis using SPSS were conducted to test research hypothesis and identify three audience groups (event dreamers, indecisive audience, and uninterested audience). Research outcomes demonstrate that video is more effective than poster in evoking tourist imagination and positive emotions, leading to stronger intentions to attend the promoted event. More importantly, prior knowledge is found as an imagination facilitator while psychological distance plays the role of an imagination inhibitor. This study provide valuable insights into how the effectiveness of experiential marketing varies depending on the audience characteristics. Therefore, event managers can optimize the effectiveness of experiential marketing by (1) targeting more receptive audience groups (i.e., event dreamers and indecisive audience); (2) adding more “psychologically close” details of the promoted event (e.g., similar age or cultural groups) and (3) enhancing message repetition.