Parasocial Interaction, Destination Personality Fit and Consumers’ Behavioral Intentions: The Case of TV Shopping

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is an interesting topic that has practical relevance and will find its audience. The authors use appropriate methodological tools. Although the study is of good quality, some corrections and additions to the content are necessary.

- In the context of the study's focus on the conscious promotion of tourist destinations through TV shopping programmes, it is necessary to include in the theoretical background the key importance of marketing communication, specifically in this case semiotics.

The main of the semiotic approach application in the city branding is the perception of the  target groups of the city's customers as the active creators of the meaning. In other words, the “consumers” of the territory are perceived as the active recipients of the important information messages (Matlovičová et al. 2019, 2017). The emphasis is shifted to the content, the context as well as to  the way by means of which the symbol is "read" (Fiske 1990 in Matlovičová et al. 2019, p. 122). The content of the information consciously or unconsciously transmitted or  the messages of the significance of the city brand are projected by menas of the set of the cultural codes and then transmitted via the various channels and transformed into the image of the territory brand image. The recipient acquires them on the base of the process of decoding, selection, respectively addition (e.g. prejudices) of the originally transmitted message content (Matlovičová et al. 2017; 2019). According to Ashworth and Voogd (1990 in Matlovičová et al. 2019, p. 122), the stages of the coding and decoding are related to the semiological systems by means of which the more important attributes of the brand are associated with the specific feelings or states of mind.    

×   Matlovičová, K., Tirpáková, E., Mocák, P. 2019. City brand image: Semiotic perspective a case study of Prague. Folia Geographica, 61(1), pp. 120–14

×   Matlovicova, K. , Husarova, M. 2017. Potential Of the Heritage Marketing in Tourist Destinations Development. Cicva castle ruins case study. Folia Geographica 59 (1) , pp.5-35

- A problem with the study can be considered that it only included those respondents who had purchased a travel deal through the TV shopping channel. In terms of the objectivity of testing the stated hypotheses, it would be necessary to know the opinions and reasons of those respondents who did not use the TV shopping offer or who refused to participate in the survey, i.e. those respondents for whom the personality of the presenter did not work (why?). In other words, the authors should modify the claim that their research has confirmed that PSI between a TV host and TV viewers has a positive influence on viewers' behavioral intentions.

This aspect should be mentioned in the conclusion under the limitations of the study.

- The sample construction methodology does not allow generalizing the survey results to the whole population, as respondents who did not purchase the travel offer through the TV shopping channel were excluded from the survey. I recommend modifying the wording of the survey findings so that the statements are only about the respondents surveyed, not the entire population.

- The authors do not mention the respondents' area of residence in the paper. This is because there are fundamental differences in the perception of a tourist destination between respondents from metropolitan, suburban and rural environments.

The success of the moderator's communication will depend on whether he/she can reveal the push factors of the environment generating potential tourists in the interview. Ultimately, the goal of tourism is to enhance the quality of life (see at Mocak et.al 2022, p. 73-73). Different residents and visitors to the city have different rhythms of daily life, and at the same time different places in the city are used differently during the day depending on the schedule of activities. This implies the need for a shift from urban planning to urban life planning. (Mocak et.al 2022, p. 73-73). The presenter should be able to skillfully use the differences of the environments (home and host) in communication and personify themselves with the attributes of the selling point.

×   Mocák P., Matlovičová K., Matlovič R., Pénzes J., Pachura P., Mishra P.K.F, Kostilníková K., Demková M. 2022. 15-Minute City Concept as a Sustainable Urban Development Alternative: a Brief Outline of Conceptual Frameworks And Slovak Cities as a Case. Folia Geographica 2022, 64/1, pp. 69-89.

In any case, it is an interesting study that has the potential to reach a broad academic audience and contribute to the debate on optimising the marketing communication of tourist destinations.

I recommend publishing the manuscript after minor revisions.

Author Response

Review comments

This is an interesting topic that has practical relevance and will find its audience. The authors use appropriate methodological tools. Although the study is of good quality, some corrections and additions to the content are necessary.

- In the context of the study's focus on the conscious promotion of tourist destinations through TV shopping programmes, it is necessary to include in the theoretical background the key importance of marketing communication, specifically in this case semiotics.

The main of the semiotic approach application in the city branding is the perception of the  target groups of the city's customers as the active creators of the meaning. In other words, the “consumers” of the territory are perceived as the active recipients of the important information messages (Matlovičová et al. 2019, 2017). The emphasis is shifted to the content, the context as well as to  the way by means of which the symbol is "read" (Fiske 1990 in Matlovičová et al. 2019, p. 122). The content of the information consciously or unconsciously transmitted or  the messages of the significance of the city brand are projected by menas of the set of the cultural codes and then transmitted via the various channels and transformed into the image of the territory brand image. The recipient acquires them on the base of the process of decoding, selection, respectively addition (e.g. prejudices) of the originally transmitted message content (Matlovičová et al. 2017; 2019). According to Ashworth and Voogd (1990 in Matlovičová et al. 2019, p. 122), the stages of the coding and decoding are related to the semiological systems by means of which the more important attributes of the brand are associated with the specific feelings or states of mind.   

×   Matlovičová, K., Tirpáková, E., Mocák, P. 2019. City brand image: Semiotic perspective a case study of Prague. Folia Geographica, 61(1), pp. 120–14

×   Matlovicova, K. , Husarova, M. 2017. Potential Of the Heritage Marketing in Tourist Destinations Development. Cicva castle ruins case study. Folia Geographica 59 (1) , pp.5-35

Authors’ Response:

We referred to reviewer’s suggestion added several paragraphs to discuss semiotic application approach as our paper’s theoretical background.

The semiotic application approach could be a theoretical underpinning of why many destination markers use TV shopping as a channel to promote tourism destinations. As the study of signs and symbols, semiotics conveys meaning through language, gestures, or any other visible signs, which all serve as essential elements for information exchange and communication. Every individual can interpret a sign differently based on their social and cultural background [5]. According to Peirce’s (1839–1941) semiotic model, the semiotic process consists of an object, a sign, and an interpretant. In the tourism context, the object is the destination itself, the signs are the advertisement’s information message, and the message receivers or interpretants are the target tourists[5].

Consider city branding: the advertisement message is a specific context indicating the meanings to their city’s target tourists [6], who are active recipients of information messages. Specifically, the advertisement’s signs, symbols, and messages are important determinants of consumers’ interpretation of the city. Therefore, making good use of important city signs and symbols and designing appealing messages in advertisements should create a favorable city image in consumers’ minds, which in turn influences their visit intention to that city. Similarly, when consumers watch a tourism destination promoted by a TV host in a TV shopping program, they interpret all of the signs, symbols, and messages presented in the show and delivered by the host, which forms their image of the promoted destination. Therefore, the content presented in the TV program and how the TV host promotes the destination and interacts with consumers are critical determinants of how consumers interpret those signs, symbols, and messages and form their images of the promoted destination. The preceding discussion explains why TV shopping becomes a popular channel for destination marketers to promote tourism destinations. It also emphasizes the important role of a TV host in promoting a tourism destination in a TV program.

On the other hand, an advertisement is, for all intents and purposes, the description and promotion of a product. The audience understands an advertisement or the product itself through the techniques used in the advertisement. Therefore, advertising is a typical mode of information transmission. Advertising itself is to focus on persuasion and communication, conveying information to consumers to influence their purchase behavior [19]. However, the audience could have different interpretations of the information conveyed by the advertisement, depending on the positioning of the information and thus the advertising appeals. Semiotically, in addition to the explicit meaning, advertisements have meanings and ideologies not readily apparent in the text, where the concealed meanings require interpretation by the audience with the social knowledge they possess [5]. Therefore, it is necessary that human emotions be considered along with the use of techniques to persuade consumers to influence their mindset to become amenable and then form the desire to buy and generate purchase behavior.

Reviewer comments

- The sample construction methodology does not allow generalizing the survey results to the whole population, as respondents who did not purchase the travel offer through the TV shopping channel were excluded from the survey. I recommend modifying the wording of the survey findings so that the statements are only about the respondents surveyed, not the entire population.

Authors’ response

This study used purposive sampling technique. The purpose was to understand TV viewers’ parasocial experiences with a TV host; hence, only those who had ever watched one or more TV shopping channels with a TV host introducing and promoting a certain tourism destination in the past three months were included in the sample.

Reviewer’s comments:

- The authors do not mention the respondents' area of residence in the paper. This is because there are fundamental differences in the perception of a tourist destination between respondents from metropolitan, suburban and rural environments.

Authors’ response:

We are very appreciate reviewer’s valuable comments; however, we did not collect respondent’s area such as from metropolitan, suburban and rural environments. We will keep this suggestion in mind for our future research.

Reviewer 2 Report

Congratulations to the authors for the study. It’s a pleasure to give the feedback to your paper. It is well written and structured, as well as describes the methodology and uses the appropriate statistical treatment to test the hypotheses presented.

However, there are some aspects that should be corrected, which I present below, as recommendations to improve the paper.

It should mix “Literature review” (LR) up with the old and new references. There is a still powerful need have enhanced to add LR from years 2021, and 2022.

My suggestions:

- the paper must have a section with conclusions, where they should objectively present a summary of the findings and the motif of the research methodologies.

- the literature review (LR) should be updated, based on more recent studies (2021 and 2022);

- the references presented at the end must follow the style rules of the journal.

Author Response

Thank you reviewer's valuable suggestions. We added newest references from recent two to three years as follows. 

Lee, H., Chang, D.R. and Einwiller, S. (2020), "A study on the dynamics between the moral reasoning process and celebrity image and their impact on consumers’ support for celebrity comebacks after a transgression", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 729-743. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-02-2019-2259

Kim, J. & López-Sintas, J. (2021). Social TV viewers’ symbolic parasocial interactions with media        characters: A topic modelling analysis of viewers’ comments. Social Sciences & Humanities Open. Vol.3 No.1, pp. 100129. 10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100129.

Yen, Y.-S. (2020), "Exploring the synergy effect of trust with other beliefs in television shopping", Management Decision, Vol. 58 No. 3, pp. 428-447. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2016-0814

Zhang, S.; Kim, K.; Yim, B.H.; Hyun, B.; Chai, W.(2022). Destination Personality and Behavioral Intention in Hainan’s Golf Tourism during COVID-19 Pandemic: Mediating Role of Destination Image and Self-Congruity. Sustainability, 14,6528. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116528

Reviewer 3 Report

Thr authors present a topic of interest, adopting, in an original manner, the  parasocial interaction phenomenon to the case of TV shopping for tourism destinations.

I recomment, in the introduction, the presentation of the paper structure . Also, the items used to define each variable should be mentioned in Table 3 or in the Annexes.  

In the discussions section, it would be meaningful to detail the  cultural factors that could lead to the paper findings.

Author Response

Thank you reveiwer's valuable suggestions.

The table 3 has defined each variables, please see page. 9-10. 

And, the cultural has been addressed as the limitation. Please see the follow sentences. 

Because this study was solely conducted with Taiwanese participants, the findings and implications may not be generalizable to other regions and countries. Therefore, future research can consider including participants from different countries or cultural background to validate the generalizability of the model in this study.

Reviewer 4 Report

 Parasocial Interaction, Destination Personality Fit and Consumers’ Behavioral Intentions: The Case of TV Shopping

Overall Review: The research chosen and the application of technique makes the research interesting with the methodological approach. Overall the research is well explained and presented and the work deserves appreciation. The work is lacking in research questions, and objectives, which may not be necessary. Adding these in Introduction sections and again verifying them with justification in results. A conclusion section is missing, which is the most important in any study. This section will enhance the credentials of the research. The work reflects the dedication of researcher at each level.  However, suggested comments can help the researcher to improve the quality of research paper, for the betterment of study for the mass reader. The research requires to align with MDPI structure for citations, and referencing which must be corrected. Add some more research citations strictly recommended, wherever required as advised.  English language needs a minor improvement making sentences, and paragraphs shorter in the complete research paper, which may enhance the quality of the work.

The research can be accepted after suggested corrections.

(1)    Title

·       Title may have a better framing.

·       It may be framed to reflect research problem including scope.

·       It may be reframed with some additional words to be more clearly specific and attractive.

(2)    Abstract and Keywords

·       Abstract is well articulated which is representing a good snapshot of the research.

·       It may have more concise though a better encapsulation of the research.

·       Keywords are wisely chosen. Format of capital and small needs to be checked.

·       Sentences need some improvement with vocabulary and grammar for English language.

(3)    Introduction

·       Citation style must be improved to MDPI style of citation and referencing.

·       A good presentation of the work with the requirements.

·       Paragraphs are evenly distributed and presented

·       It is explained with a better elaboration.

·       Paragraphs are well connected with each other in proper flow.

·       The last paragraph cites the purpose in an interesting manner.

·       English grammar, and punctuation needs improvement.

(4)    Literature review

·       Citation style must be improved to MDPI style of citation and referencing.

·       A paragraph before the subsection can make the work a better presentation.

·       Paragraph size is evenly distributed.

·       Subsections are well organized with hypotheses.

·       English grammar, and punctuation needs improvement.

(5)    Methodology

·       Citation style must be improved to MDPI style of citation and referencing.

·       A paragraph before the subsection can make the work a better presentation.

·       Section 3 is well presented but it is recommended to use citations to increase the credentials of work.

·       The sections needs addition of more subsections or better elaboration of methodology.

·       The sub section 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 should have a better clarifications.

(6)    Results

·       Citation style must be improved to MDPI style of citation and referencing.

·       A paragraph before the subsection can make the work a better presentation.

·       The section should have a paragraph before sub sections 4.1.

·       All paragraphs should be corrected for alignment at the start, font size, font style and line spacing must be corrected.

·       Source for all tables required.

·       Source for all figures required.

(7)    Discussion

·       Discussion is well presented with justifications, still some citations can make it better.

·       The section is well articulated based on the above sections of the research.

·       All paragraphs should be corrected for alignment at the start, font size, font style and line spacing must be corrected.

·       Citation style must be improved to MDPI style of citation and referencing.

·       Citation or source for each figure is required.

·       There is scope of improvement in English grammar and punctuation.

(8)     Implications

·       It is a good presentation, but with bullet headings can make the conclusion more clear and attractive, though it is acceptable.

·       It is better presented as several paragraphs adding more good explanation.

·       Citation style must be improved to MDPI style of citation and referencing.

·       Citation or source for each figure is required.

·       There is scope of improvement in English grammar and punctuation.

(9)    Limitations

·       Limitations are well presented.

·       Citation style must be improved to MDPI style of citation and referencing.

·       Citation or source for each figure is required.

·       There is scope of improvement in English grammar and punctuation.

(10) References

·       There must be addition of many new references.

·       Most of the references needs to update with mixed study from many country studies.

Author Response

First of all, we are very appreciate reviewer’s valuable suggestions.

Our responses can find as below:

Regarding to the number of words in the title should not be too many, and current title has covered number of variables in this study. Therefore, it is a bit difficult to reframe additional words to cover in the title.

The citation style has improved follow by MDPI style. English proofreading has been done.

The section added a paragraph before sub sections 4.1, please see below

This research is to investigates whether or not TV viewers’ parasocial experience with a TV host (i.e. PSI) can significantly impact viewers’ behavioral intentions on the advertised destination. Two, to identify whether the two factors (self-destination personality fit and host-destination personality fit) may have a significant moderating effect regarding the influence of PSI on TV viewers’ behavioral intentions. In this study, a total of 310 valid responses were collected and analyzed using the SPSS.