Dynamism by design: The zoom effects in short video tourism marketing

Abstract

As tourism short videos have become central to destination marketing, camera zoom motion stands out as a simple yet powerful tool. However, theory-driven guidance on when and how to deploy zoom effects remains limited. Drawing on construal level theory, this research examines how zoom motions (zoom-in vs. zoom-out) interact with visual content to affect tourists’ responses. Five main studies across eastern and western cultures demonstrate significant interaction effects between zoom motion and visual content. Specifically, for activity-centric content, zoom-in motion enhances persuasiveness by eliciting objective mental imagery; for site-centric content, zoom-out motion proves more effective, as it evokes feelings-based mental imagery. These findings enrich the theoretical discourse on destination visual marketing and provide actionable recommendations for destination marketing organizations and content creators to optimize the persuasive impact of tourism short videos.