Pre-Travel Tourism Experiences on Digital Platforms: Exploring Motivation, Behavioral Orientations, and Destination Imagination Through a Qualitative Approach

The use of virtual platforms to search for information about a tourism destination has become increasingly relevant in developing regions, posing a challenge for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs). This study aims to explore how tourist motivation and behavioral orientations are expressed in relation to destination imagination across the digital platforms of Mexico, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. The procedure involved a 20 s exposure to standardized static stimuli from official digital platforms and a 2 min free exploration of each official destination website, followed by in-depth interviews with 40 participants. Data analysis employed thematic content analysis using an abductive approach. The findings support an interpretive framework that analytically orders digital interaction and cognitive processing in relation to destination imagination and anticipatory evaluation, including expectancy of success, outcome expectations, and value appraisal. These processes are subsequently associated with motivation and future-oriented behavioral orientations. The study contributes to Expectancy–Value Theory by showing how subjective value is experienced in digital tourism through affective, symbolic, aesthetic, and social meanings that enrich the interpretation of intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, and cost within pre-travel destination experiences.