Technology-Enabled Social Marketing and Gestalt Coherence in Service Contexts

This study examines how sustainability-oriented social marketing influences relationship quality and tourism relationship value, and how perceived brand coherence (Gestalt completeness) conditions this relationship. The growing emphasis on sustainable tourism and responsible consumption has increased the importance of socially oriented marketing communication in shaping long-term consumer–firm relationships. However, prior research has largely examined social marketing, relationship quality, and relationship value in isolation, with limited attention to how perceptual mechanisms strengthen these relational processes within contemporary, platform-mediated tourism environments. Addressing this gap, this study investigates how public-issue-promoted social marketing (PIPSM) influences relationship quality (RQ) and tourism relationship value (TRV) while incorporating Gestalt completeness (GC) as a moderating mechanism that captures perceptual coherence in brand communication. Using survey data collected from 400 consumers with prior tourism experience in Taiwan, the proposed model is tested through structural equation modeling, complemented by regression-based moderation analysis. The results indicate that PIPSM significantly enhances relationship quality, which in turn positively influences tourism relationship value. Furthermore, Gestalt completeness strengthens the relationship between RQ and TRV, suggesting that perceptually coherent communication amplifies relational outcomes. This study contributes to the literature by integrating social marketing, relationship marketing, and perceptual psychology into a unified framework. Rather than demonstrating direct sustainability outcomes, the findings highlight relational and perceptual pathways that may support sustainability-oriented behaviors. The study also offers practical implications by illustrating how socially oriented communication and coherent brand design across digital touchpoints can enhance customer engagement and long-term relational value.