International Comparison of the Personalization Effects of Information Provision in Tourism Video Promotions Utilizing Digital Avatar

In the tourism industry, as the international tourism market expands, digital avatars that can be adjusted in terms of language and appearance to match the target audience are likely to be widely used in tourism video promotions. However, the persuasiveness of video marketing utilizing digital avatars has not been sufficiently examined. Therefore, this study sets the following research question: In tourism video promotions, how persuasive are digital avatars compared to real people, and what are the effects of personalization in information transmission? With a focus on inbound tourism, this study collects data from residents in Japan and US, through a web-based survey promoting tourist attractions in Kyoto, Japan. The main findings indicate that, for Japanese audiences in Tokyo, both real-person and digital avatar video promotions showed positive effects of personalization. On the other hand, for US audiences, personalization in both real-person and digital avatar video promotions resulted in negative effects. These findings suggest that in tourism video promotions using digital avatars, the impact of personalization varies across cultures, highlighting the need to develop culturally optimized strategies.