Nolan, DavidDudley, Katherine2014-04-152014-04-152014-04Dudley, K. (2014). <i>Adventure tourism: The role of social comparison theory in successful advertising images</i> (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.https://hdl.handle.net/10877/4961This study examined the effects of intensity levels depicted in images used to represent adventure tourism activities on consumer attitude toward the images. The goal of the study was to answer four research questions: 1) Does the level of intensity portrayed in an adventure tourism activity image affect consumer attitudes toward the image? 2) Does the level of intensity portrayed in an adventure tourism activity image affect consumer attitudes toward the activity? 3) Does the level of intensity portrayed in an adventure tourism activity image affect consumer purchase intentions? 4) Does social comparison theory explain the relationship between effective advertising images and consumers? The proposed research questions were examined using a 3 (intensity level: high vs. low vs. neutral=control) x 2 (SCO: high vs. low) experimental design. Results indicate social comparison theory can explain the relationship between effective adventure tourism images. However, the level of intensity alone does not affect attitudes toward the image, activity, or purchase intention.Text56 pages1 file (.pdf)enAdventure tourismAdvertisingImagesMass communicationSocial comparison theoryConsumer behavior--Social aspectsMarketing research--Social aspectsAdvertising--Social aspectsConsumer behaviorThesis