Environmental communication in wildlife tourism: narrative framing and emotion effect on the willingness to pay for a destination
通过实验研究，发现叙事文本和负面图片能显著提升中国游客对野生动物旅游目的地的支付意愿，且自然共情起中介作用。
Finding an appropriate environmental communication format to enhance tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) for wildlife tourism destinations is a cost-effective and accessible method to mitigate human–wildlife conflict. However, there is limited research on this topic. This study addresses the critical issue of effectively communicating environmental values to tourists. By incorporating framing effect theory, narrative transportation theory, and affect theory, it investigates the impact of text and image communication messages on tourists’ WTP for wildlife tourism destinations in China, which is an emerging but under-explored market. The study used a 2 (narrative text vs. non-narrative text) × 3 (no image vs. positive image vs. negative image) between-subjects factorial experimental design with Chinese tourists for the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park. The results revealed that narrative texts and negative images have a significant positive influence on WTP, while the moderating effect of negative images is significant and negative, and empathy with nature mediates these effects. This study is the first to reveal the impact of affect framing on tourists’ WTP for wildlife tourism destinations from the perspective of environmental communication.