Z33 - Tourism: Marketing and FinanceReturn

The issue of advertising is widely analysed in relevant literature; however, the emphasis is mainly on its commercial part. Advertising-related aspects in regard to domestic tourist behaviour still lack scholars’ attention. Therefore, outdoor advertising and its possibilities of attracting domestic tourists are under-assessed. The purpose of the study is to determine the effective advertising layouts to be used in static outdoor domestic tourism advertisements. Accordingly, this study contributes to the literature by analysing the peculiarities of static outdoor advertising layouts and determining the most effective compositions of its creative elements. The most appealing advertising layouts are determined. Applying the principles of conjoint analysis, the main elements (i.e., attributes) of the advertising layout are established and composed into profiles, encompassing different element levels. The attributes used in the analysis are “headline position” (4 levels), “picture” (4 levels), “text” (3 levels) and “colour scheme” (4 levels). The results (based on profile rankings) allow determining relative attribute importance and attribute level performance. To verify the results, eye-tracking is performed. The study allows modelling recommended advertising layouts to be used in outdoor advertisements in domestic tourism. 
Implications for Central European audience: Visual elements of tourism advertising are the most important for attracting consumer attention compared to textual ones. The visual elements should contain pictures of people or nature and should use a warm/mixed colour scheme. The headline should be placed in the upper position. The absence of text is the most attractive for consumers. For further research, the effect of different elements of advertising can be analysed, more levels of the same attributes might be included, and different compositions, colour mixing schemes and mediums might be chosen. Replication of the research in other countries or other types of tourism might broaden the researchers’ understanding of the scope.

According to the duration of the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus, this study examines Serbian tourists’ perception of risk (travel risk, destination risk, health and psychological risk, and financial risk) in two different periods of the crisis. The collection of primary data was performed using the questionnaire technique, and the research was conducted during May 2020 (363 respondents) and January 2021 (360 respondents). The research findings revealed that the perception of risk is higher in the first period of the health crisis compared to the second observed period, except for health and psychological risk (higher in the second period of the crisis). After observing both periods of health crisis and the examined control variables (gender, age, monthly income, level of education, travel intention, crisis period), the findings of linear hierarchical regressions indicate that the perception of travel risk and health and psychological risk is significantly influenced by education and travel intention, while the perception of destination risk and financial risk is influenced by travel intention. The results of the cluster analysis identified three characteristic clusters ("carefree", "relaxed", and "concerned") and a change in cluster composition during two periods of the COVID-19 crisis. The results of the study are discussed, the implications are stated, and the directions of further research are suggested.
Implications for Central European audience: The study's findings contribute toward understanding the risk perception of travel in the period of health crisis caused by COVID-19 infection, which can help destination and marketing managers form strategies to reduce risk perception, which is crucial for the recovery of the national and global tourism industry. Also, the findings of the cluster analysis have significant marketing implications for travel organizers and tourist destinations since the recovery of tourism will depend on their ability to develop strategies to attract different segments of Serbian tourists in the crisis and post-crisis period.