Romancing “Friends with Benefits”: Does it Benefit New York as a Travel Destination?

This study examines whether the romantic comedy as an information source can impact on and shape viewer attitude toward and intention to visit a place. Data were collected from patrons at a large cinema chain located in a major shopping center in Australia. Using an experimental approach, the experimental group watched a romantic comedy set in New York, whereas the control group did not. Subjects in the experimental group had significantly higher empathy, past experience, place familiarity, attitude toward, intention to visit New York, and significantly lower performance/financial risk associated with visiting New York than the control group. Furthermore, perceived social risk played a significant role in influencing place familiarity in the control group. This suggests that romantic comedies can be an effective information source in allaying viewers' concerns about a movie location. This article provides researchers with theoretical underpinning for future empirical studies in movie-induced tourism. It also encourages more collaboration between government, movie producers, and destination managers to deliver a movie that provides consistent branding in its story, location, and product placement strategies.