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

Mengying Zhang et al.

Journal of Travel Research2026https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875261428100article
AJG 4ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

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.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875261428100

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@article{mengying2026,
  title        = {{The Persuasiveness of Cartoons: How Cartoon-Executed Illustrations Boost Tourists’ Civilized Behaviors}},
  author       = {Mengying Zhang et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Travel Research},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875261428100},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.