Chapter 22: Direct Effects of Tourism Commercials: Skin Conductance Methods

This chapter documents initial results of using skin conductance measures to compare the relative effectiveness of three commercials for destinations and one beer advertisement. Data were collected from 12 respondents in a laboratory-based study. Analysis of skin conductance data showed that the beer commercial evoked a greater intensity of emotional response than the three tourism commercials. Moreover, the time trace of the tourism commercials indicated a downward trend, and this is interpreted as a lack of overall emotional arousal. The results suggest that skin conductance measures may be used for testing tourism advertising effectiveness and also a need for further research to examine the emotional content of tourism advertising.