When loss matters more: Integrating prospect theory and stimulus–organism–response framework to explain how message framing influences local event participation

This study examined how message framing influenced individuals’ intentions to attend local events. Based on prospect theory and the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework, this study investigated whether preventive (loss-framed) versus promotional (gain-framed) messages differentially affected visit intentions and explored the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship. A between-subjects experiment was conducted on 428 US-based participants recruited through Prolific. Participants were randomly assigned to either a preventive or promotional message promoting a local event. Event image and involvement were conceptualized as organismic responses mediating the relationship between message framing and visit intentions. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and Hayes’ PROCESS parallel mediation analysis. Results showed that preventive messages generated significantly stronger intentions to attend local events than promotional messages did. Moreover, the effect of message framing on visit intentions was fully mediated by event image and involvement, indicating that framing influenced individuals’ cognitive evaluations of the event and their psychological engagement rather than exerting a direct persuasive effect. By integrating prospect theory with the SOR framework in an event tourism context, this study advances the understanding of persuasive communication in event marketing and offers practical insights for event organizers and destination marketers seeking to develop more effective promotional messages.