Rural tourism atmosphere: Right mood or missed mark affecting travel?

Atmosphere is an important integrative environmental factor, where specific emotional and cultural experiences are central to shaping tourists’ behaviors. Despite its importance, the processes through which it influences outcomes are not well understood. Its interaction with social media advertising has also been insufficiently studied. This study investigates how atmosphere (low vs. high) affects travel intentions, which expands the research on atmosphere in tourism. Through three studies, the results reveal that a higher level of perceived atmosphere can increase travel intention. Cultural identity and emotional arousal serve mediate in the effect of atmosphere. In addition, the moderating role of advertising content is supported. Additionally, compared with firm-generated content, the influence of perceived atmosphere is stronger when the content is user-generated. This study offers implications for destination managers to use atmospheres and genuine social media content to draw tourists.