Although much research has been devoted to the study of the impact of celebrity endorsements on the effectiveness of advertising in the literature on consumer behavior, few scholars pay attention to applying this concept to explain consumer behavior in the tourism field. This research tested celebrities’ expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness as the antecedents of consumer trust and engagement in the tourism and hospitality context. Specifically, through the analysis of 406 valid responses collected by online questionnaire, this study makes the following conclusions. First, it provides a new perspective on the influence of celebrity effects by focusing on the live-streaming behavior of CEOs on China’s largest online travel agency (OTA) platform. Secondly, it confirms that the three dimensions of the celebrity effect (expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness) positively affect the three dimensions of consumer trust (ability, benevolence, and integrity). At the same time, consumer trust can also predict the three dimensions of consumer engagement (cognitive processing, affection, and activation). In addition, the three dimensions of consumer trust also play a positive mediating role between the relationship of celebrity effects and consumer engagement. That is, the celebrity effects have a positive and indirect influence on consumer engagement. Therefore, by suggesting that celebrity endorsements can create consumer trust and engagement in the OTA platform, this research expands the research framework of celebrity endorsement credibility theory.

This study aims to (a) identify the relationship between travel motivation and popular media (mainly films or TV programs), (b) examine the relationship between destination images and popular media as an information source, and (c) investigate the influence of popular media on destination’s decision-making process. The relationship is focused on three aspects: motivation, destination image, and the decision-making process for tourists. This study employed a self-administered questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was composed of (i) respondents’ motivation and general information about their visit to the destination (Jeju Island in Korea), (ii) attributes of the film-induced tourism of their visit to the destination, and (iii) respondents’ socio-demographic elements. A correlation analysis and a standard multiple regression analysis were employed. The results discovered that there is a significant relationship (a) between a destination and popular media, (b) between destination image and popular media, and (c) between the decision-making process and popular media. The implications of this study can help destination marketers and managers build competitive strategies using the effective management of film-related tourist attraction sites to increase visitor numbers and ensure that a sustainable long-term relationship is encouraged between destinations and tourists.