An initial investigation of the effect of advertisement and word-of-month on first-time visitors to Hong Kong

Attracting new travelers to a destination is always a major concern of airline companies and tourism boards. Applying Rogers' innovation diffusion theory, this study utilizes three diffusion models (external influence, internal influence, and mixed influence) to examine the patterns of travelers who visited Hong Kong for the first time by air. Findings indicated that internal influence, i.e. communications between acquaintance dominantly influenced travelers' decision to visit Hong Kong for the first time. As Hong Kong is a major travel destination in Asia Pacific, findings of this study would not only add value to the literature in air transportation but also be useful for other regions in designing effective marketing communication strategies. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.