The effect of music to encourage responsible health-related behaviours among reluctant tourists: analysis of high – and low-context cultures

The tourism sector is known to suffer significant volatility associated with safety issues. Among the factors that influence tourists’ decisions in this regard are health-related concerns about the destination country. However, when it comes to taking responsibility for their own health, there is a gap in the literature regarding effective communication strategies for motivating tourists who are reluctant to perform desirable health-related behaviours, such as getting vaccinated. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of music in communicating implicit messages about such responsible behaviours to reluctant tourists. To this end, two factors are experimentally manipulated: the type of communication stimulus (verbal/musical) and the cultural context of the tourist (high/low). The main findings are that: music exerts a greater effect on reluctant tourists than ‘average’ tourists; music is capable of conveying referential as well as emotional messages; and music’s effectiveness in this kind of communication is greater in high-context cultures.