The Persuasiveness of Cartoons: How Cartoon-Executed Illustrations Boost Tourists’ Civilized Behaviors

Promoting civilized behavior among tourists is vital for sustainable destination management. Cartoon-style illustrations are widely used in persuasive communications, yet their psychological effects remain unclear. Drawing on Construal Level Theory and Morality Preference Theory, we investigate the potential of cartoon-executed illustrations to increase other-focus, which encourages tourists to consider the broader implications of their actions. Five studies show that cartoon-executed (versus normal) illustrations of civilized behavior in tourism communications lead to more actions (in field experiments), and higher intentions (in surveys), of civilized behavior through other-focus. Furthermore, the moderating role of moral identity reveals that the persuasive advantage of cartoon-executed illustrations is attenuated among tourists with high moral identity. This research advances tourism ethics and visual persuasion literature by identifying visual abstraction as a novel antecedent of moral behavior, suggesting destination operators should prioritize cartoon-executed visuals over realistic photographs to non-coercively trigger other-focus and enhance compliance.