Abstract
In the tourism and leisure industries, understanding what travelers truly feel is more critical than ever. Traditional research tools—surveys, interviews, focus groups—rely on conscious, rational responses. However, neuroscience has shown that most human decisions, including travel-related ones, are driven by unconscious processes. This poster introduces a practical framework that leverages consumer neuroscience tools—Implicit Association Tests (IAT), Facial Coding, and Eye-Tracking—to access the automatic emotional responses that shape how people perceive destinations, experiences, and brands. These methods go beyond self-reporting, allowing tourism professionals to capture implicit perceptions of trust, value, and engagement. We present real-world case studies from food tourism, hospitality, and cultural heritage sectors in Europe and the United States. Each case demonstrates how neuromarketing tools reveal hidden reactions to visual environments, sensory cues, and brand narratives—often uncovering insights that contradict what consumers claim in traditional surveys. This approach empowers professionals to optimize the design of experiences, marketing messages, and visitor journeys based on how the brain actually responds—not how we think it should respond. Whether you’re curating an exhibition, branding a destination, or designing a booking interface, understanding the unconscious is no longer optional—it’s strategic. This poster invites researchers, marketers, and tourism operators to embrace a new layer of insight: emotional truth grounded in neuroscience.
Presenters
Marco BaldocchiCEO & Founder, Consumer Neuroscience , Neuralisys, Florida, United States Carolin Lusby
Assistant Professor, Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Florida International University, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Critical Issues in Tourism and Leisure Studies
KEYWORDS
CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT, TOURISM EXPERIENCE DESIGN, UNCONSCIOUS DECISION MAKING
