The interaction effect of musical tonality and color saturation in tourism video on visit intention

Video advertising leverages multisensory cues to drive tourist decision making. However, while visual and auditory elements are often studied in isolation, few studies have explored the synergistic effects of their interaction on advertising effectiveness. This study extends the literature on sensory marketing and tourism management by investigating the interaction effect of musical tonality and color saturation on tourists’ visit intention. To test the hypotheses, two experiments were conducted. Specifically, a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design was employed in study 1 ( N = 308) to establish the interaction effect. Study 2 ( N = 368) utilized a similar experimental design with a different sample to replicate the primary findings and test the parallel mediation effects of destination intimacy and perceived novelty. Results demonstrate that sensory congruence significantly enhances visit intention, specifically through two distinct combinations: major-key music with high color saturation, and minor-key music with low color saturation. In particular, the major-key/high-saturation combination increases visit intention by fostering destination intimacy, while the minor-key/low-saturation combination drives visit intention by enhancing perceived novelty. Furthermore, incongruent sensory combinations were found to disrupt processing fluency and diminish persuasive impact. These findings have significant theoretical and managerial implications for designing effective destination promotional content.