Destination ads that emphasise an idealised future are more effective at enticing travellers than campaigns based on nostalgia.
According to africanmarketingconfederation.org, When it comes to getting people to want to go places, the future is ever more lovely than the past, according to new research from Washington State University in the US. The findings are published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research.
Led by Ruiying Cai, an Assistant Professor, the study found that ‘forestalgia’-focused destination ads are more effective at enticing travellers to click the purchase button for a holiday than advertisements based on fond recollections. ‘Forestalgia’ (as opposed to ‘nostalgia’), is a person’s yearning for an idealised future.
The research also revealed that forestalgia advertising is particularly effective for getting people to book near-term trips, as imagining upcoming experiences makes travel plans feel more vivid and achievable.
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Cai and her team conducted three experimental studies with 665 travellers, comparing the impact of nostalgia-focused and forestalgia-focused advertising messages on participants’ intentions to visit a destination.
Nostalgia-focused ads prompted participants to reflect on past travel memories, while forestalgia-focused advertisements encouraged them to envision future experiences. Across all three studies, participants were more inclined to choose destinations featured in forestalgia-focused ads.
“We were surprised by how consistent the results were,” Cai says. “Even when we carefully reviewed the data, it was clear that travellers responded more favourably to future-focused messages. Forestalgia taps into a natural human tendency to idealise what’s ahead.”
Future-focused approach holds promise for tourism marketing
While nostalgia has been widely studied and applied in destination marketing, forestalgia, a term introduced in a 2023 product marketing study, remains relatively underexplored, especially when compared to nostalgia. The study’s findings suggest that this future-focused approach describing a yearning for an idealised future holds significant promise for tourism marketing.
One key reason is its simplicity. Nostalgia can evoke bittersweet emotions, as past experiences are often a mix of positive and negative memories. In contrast, forestalgia allows travellers to focus on the idealised possibilities of what is ahead.
“People tend to idealise the future,” Cai explains. “It’s not weighed down by the complexities of memory, which can include both joy and regret.”
The study also explored how temporal distance – the perceived time until a trip – moderated the effectiveness of advertisements. Forestalgia-focused ads were most impactful when promoting trips within the next year.
“When people think about a trip happening soon, they’re more likely to engage in concrete planning,” notes Cai. “They imagine booking flights, finding accommodation and planning activities – making the trip feel more achievable and exciting.”
The implications for destination marketers are significant. Tourism campaigns often rely on nostalgia to evoke a connection with potential travellers, but this research highlights the untapped potential of forestalgia.
According to the researchers, marketers could design campaigns that vividly depict future experiences, emphasising how a destination could fulfil travellers’ dreams and aspirations. For trips planned in the near term, this strategy may be particularly persuasive.
“It’s about imagining the adventures and memories waiting to be made,” says Cai. “That sense of excitement and possibility is something we can all connect with, especially when dreaming about our next trip.”
