Bringing long-haul destinations closer: the role of music in destination promotional videos
Authors:   , Coronel Padilla Monica Fabiola 
Published: December 2024

This dissertation delves into an often-overlooked ingredient in destination promotional videos: music. The title, "Bringing long-haul destinations closer: the role of music in destination promotional videos" aptly captures the core of this doctoral dissertation, whose main objective is to understand the role of music in destination promotional videos of long-haul destinations. To this end, qualitative and quantitative methods were employed along three stages: First stage: Exploratory study based on focus groups discussions with Hungarian and international participants, conducted in Budapest. This study aimed to understand the role of music in destination promotional videos. Second stage: Consisted of expert interviews, online and offline, with five experts in destination marketing and music from Hungary and Ecuador. This study aimed to better understand, from different perspectives, the function and importance of music in destination promotional videos. Third stage: An experimental study took place in Budapest with the participation of Hungarians (n=26) and Ecuadorians (n=10). Ecuador was chosen as the unit of analysis because is a long-haul destination and remains relatively unknown for the Hungarian market. The main goal of this study was collecting participants’ psycho-physiological measures such as skin resistance and heart rate while watching a promotional video of Ecuador with four musical variations (Andean folk vs. cinematic vs. pop vs. no music). This study was complemented with self-report. Self-report consisted of a self-assessment manikin (SAM) rating scale and an open-ended interview conducted after video exposure. Self-report techniques allowed to collect Hungarian and Ecuadorian participants’ subjective interpretations of their own reactions to the destination promotional videos. Main findings ▪ Music is an essential element of persuasion, as this has the potential to generate favorable and unfavorable attitudes towards long-haul destinations. ▪ Music significantly influences arousal, valence, attention, and short-time memory. The amount of arousal and attention changed significantly from one musical stimulus to another. Correspondingly, the lack of music decreases arousal and attention. The cinematic track elicited the most arousal, whereas Andean folk track evoked the most positive feelings. Andean folk track drew the most attention and was also the most memorable among Hungarian participants. ▪ Music impacted on attitudes towards the video. For instance, video with traditional music (Andean folk track) was the most liked by both Hungarians and Ecuadorians. ▪ Attitudes towards the destination changed from one musical stimulus to another despite the same visuals. Attitudes are overall evaluations, therefore, with the Andean folk track the destination was seen as a cultural destination, very relaxing and hospitable. In contrast, with the cinematic track the destination was perceived as dangerous and for adventure tourism, whereas with the pop song the destination was described as a destination for party and fun. ▪ The most effective musical stimulus was traditional music. Because it drew the most attention, it was the most pleasant, the most memorable and most liked among potential tourists. Furthermore, traditional music made the destination look more welcoming and safer, which are positive factors to consider in a long-haul destination. Conclusion The novelty of this research is the use of music to shorten the relative distance between a destination and a market. Findings show that music “makes feel even the Amazonas, closer”. This means that music can counteract any negative perceptions about the long-haul destination i.e. insecurity, roughness, hostility. Since distance can decrease the competitiveness of a destination, due to stereotypes and false beliefs, the dissertation posits music as an alternative to bring long-haul destinations closer. As a persuasive element of destination promotional videos music should not be underestimated.