Volunteer-Generated Media and Destination Image in Cross-Border Regenerative Tourism: Marketing Communication Evidence from the Iberian Peninsula

This article positions volunteer-generated media (VGM) as earned content within destination marketing and new-media communication. Drawing on a cross-sectional survey of volunteers engaged in Iberian cross-border regenerative projects (n = 207), we estimate a PLS-SEM in which cognitive and affective destination image predict revisit, recommend and broader support intentions. To avoid under-specified measurement, VGM is theorised and triangulated rather than modelled as a latent construct, while the structural model quantifies the downstream image→intention paths. Findings indicate that both image components significantly influence intentions, with the affective route generally stronger. An exploratory sentiment read of volunteer posts aligns with this pattern, suggesting additional communicative value in volunteers’ narratives, as a descriptive triangulation layer (outside the SEM). We translate these results into a marketing-oriented roadmap for integrated marketing communications (IMC)—ethical creator briefs, short-form activation, credibility signalling and cross-border content governance—connecting practices to brand-equity and online reputation indicators. The study advances theory by specifying volunteers as relationship content creators in cross-border regenerative branding, and it offers operational guidance for DMOs/NGOs and policy. We also outline a measurement agenda to validate a multi-item VGM scale for future SEM testing.DOI: https://doi.org/10.54663/2182-9306.2026.SpecialIssueCMTH.175-196