Consumer Experience Dimensions and Optimization Paths of Tourism Promotional Graphics and Texts: A Perspective Based on the Critical Incident Technique

Abstract

The rapid development of social media has created new opportunities for tourism promotion. Tourism promotion predominantly composed of images and texts has become a key channel influencing consumer decision-making and fostering tourism development. This study focuses on tourism graphic and textual promotion, examining consumers’ experiential perceptions within tourism promotional graphics and texts. This study employs the Critical Incident Technique and gathers 115 valid samples through both online and offline surveys, systematically identifying satisfaction and dissatisfaction incidents in the consumer experience process. Based on a questionnaire survey, this study concludes that consumers currently express satisfaction with tourism promotional graphics and texts across five dimensions: evocation of emotional aspiration, practical and effective information, humanistic warmth and depth in promotion, creative forms that attract traffic, and the promotion of positive values. Conversely, dissatisfaction is noted in five dimensions: false advertising, excessive commercial contamination, ineffective information, experiential risks, and low content quality. Accordingly, this study presents relevant recommendations from four perspectives—image and text content creators of tourism promotion, tourism businesses, social media, and consumers—in hopes of facilitating the advancement of tourism promotional graphics and texts. This study enriches the research perspective of tourism promotional communication by focusing on consumer subjective experiences, which complements the existing literature that predominantly emphasizes promotional effects. Practically, the identification of satisfaction and dissatisfaction dimensions provides actionable guidance for content creators, tourism enterprises, and social media platforms to optimize promotional strategies, thereby bridging the gap between consumer expectations and actual experiences in tourism marketing.