User-generated advertisements (UGAs) have become key information sources for consumers seeking destination details. Tourism research into this business trend is needed. Guided by the least effort principle and a personalized marketing perspective, this paper introduces persuasive cues (social-proof vs. scarcity) into UGAs by considering tourism consumers’ narcissism to segment the market and enhance these ads’ effectiveness. Three scenario-based experiments illuminate an intriguing phenomenon: UGAs featuring scarcity cues are more influential among high-narcissism tourists, whereas UGAs containing social-proof cues are more effective for low-narcissism tourists. Our research considers goal framing as another message attribute to explore the three-way interaction of persuasive cues, narcissism, and goal-framed messages in influencing recipients’ processing fluency and interest in travel. Findings underscore the importance of understanding consumers’ individual differences for tourism marketing purposes. The results also offer new perspectives on destination UGAs, providing insights for tailoring promotional campaigns to diverse target groups.
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