Australian student reactions to US tourism advertising: A test of advertising as public diplomacy

Abstract

A study among Australian college students gauged their reactions to a television commercial produced for the US Commerce Department to bolster sagging tourism numbers among international visitors. In addition to using traditional measures applied to tourism advertisements, the study also included items to measure attitudes toward the US government and its people. Pre- and post-viewing results indicated that although the Hollywood-movie-themed commercial was not well received by the Australian students as a tourism message, it did result in more favourable attitudes toward the US government, although not the US people. The findings lend partial support for the potential of tourism advertising efforts to exert a ‘bleed-over effect’ in terms of their contribution to overall attitudes toward a country, regardless of whether viewers plan to visit the country whose travel advertisements they see.