Under the umbrella termed “Creative Thailand”, Thai government has been striving for promoting Thailand as a location of international shooting hub to enhance its international reputation, develop high-earning segments, and broaden market reach. Based on the background mentioned, this study aims to explore the effects on plot of controversial films toward viewers’ destination image, perceived value, and behavioral intentions to visit a film’s destination. More explicitly, this study offer an integrated approach on the relationships among the controversial film, e-WOM, destination image, perceived value, and behavioral intentions in term of film-induced tourism. Destination image of films focused on Thailand will be investigated through a successful film as a case with controversial contents, The Hangover II. The purpose of pretest-posttest quasi-experiment questionnaires designed is to assess participants’ intentions to visit Thailand. Paired sample t-test, regression analysis included SEM established are employed to empirically test the developed research hypotheses.
The results of the research illustrate that the controversial plot of the film exerts a slightly positive influence on participants’ intentions to visit the destination promoted by the film through the mediating effect of the destination image and perceived value of the film. However, it also shows that controversial movie do have potential to increase intentions on specific segments, in which cases the story plot and the character portrayed by the actor are the most relevant influencing factors.
