Domestic Yet Foreign? Tourists’ Responses to Abroad-at-Home Framing

Abstract

“Abroad-at-home” (ABH) framing, positioning domestic destinations as local alternatives to foreign locales, has gained practical attention but limited academic focus. This research finds that ABH framing reduces visit intentions, but this negative effect is contingent on familiarity with the foreign counterpart and the perceived heritage related to the destination’s foreignness. Specifically, when familiarity or perceived heritage is high, this negative effect is mitigated or reversed. We propose a dual-process model where ABH framing triggers both impaired mental simulation (negative pathway) and enhanced perceived novelty (positive pathway). Theoretically, this work clarifies when, why, and how ABH framing influences tourist responses, revealing that its effect depends on the dual-process competition between mental simulation and perceived novelty, moderated by familiarity and perceived heritage. Practically, ABH destinations should target well-known foreign counterparts, boost tourists’ familiarity through informational or visual cues, or highlight foreign-related heritage signals in their marketing materials.