How to make tourism advertisements memorable in information overload? Based on narrative transportation theory, this study conducts four experiments to examine the relationship between chronological narrative and memory effect, and finds the following: (1) Tourism advertisement videos with presence (vs absence) chronological narrative significantly enhance memory effect; (2) Perceived temporal salience mediates the relationship between chronological narratives and memory effects; (3) The memory enhancing effect of chronological narrative was contingent upon two independent moderators: Popular voice-over and picture-in-picture unrelated to attractions. Both moderators weakened the memory benefits of chronological advertisements but enhanced recall in the absence of chronological narrative. From the perspective of enhancing users’ cognitive coherence, this study enriches the literature on tourism advertising narratives and memory, expands the research scope of their underlying mechanisms, and provides practical insights for optimizing tourism destination marketing strategies.
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