Fantasy or reality? Unveiling the power of realistic narratives in tourism social media advertising

Narrative storytelling, a cornerstone of narrative persuasion theory, plays a crucial role in nurturing robust consumer-brand relationships. Understanding persuasive narratives within the social media domain is critical for destination brands. Hence, this study investigates the impact of realistic narratives on attitudinal destination brand loyalty, mediated by self-congruence and brand attachment across two experiments. Study 1 provides evidence for the superiority of adventure-themed realistic fictional narratives over fantasy one in Facebook advertisements. Study 2 supports the findings of Study 1 with a romantic-themed narrative and a diverse destination in Instagram advertisements. Moreover, Study 2 reveals that consumer fantasy proneness diminishes the influence of realistic fictional narratives on self-congruence. These findings suggest a strategic shift toward realistic narratives over fantasy ones to stimulate self-congruence and cultivate destination brand attachment, ultimately fortifying the bonds between travellers and destination brands.