ArticlePloS one2025
Navigating the image discrepancy: A grounded theory approach to understanding Malaysia's image among Chinese tourists.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The number of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, raising concerns that recent negative news stories widely circulated on Chinese social media may be a contributing factor. Due to the limited number of reviews, sentiment analysis struggles to determine whether negative news significantly affects tourists' emotions and visitor numbers. This study employs empirical data to validate its impact, clarifying its actual influence on image discrepancy and tourist arrivals. Additionally, while managing image discrepancy is acknowledged as important in tourism, academic debate persists regarding whether negative news contributes to these discrepancies. This study conducted in-depth interviews with 30 participants, comprising 18 individual attendees and 12 attendees from 4 small seminars. Participants included recent visitors to Malaysia, prospective tourists who canceled their plans, and Malaysian tourism practitioners. Using the Context-Adaptive Grounded Theory (CAGT) methodology, the study explored whether sudden negative news events significantly influence Chinese tourists' travel decisions and identified specific factors contributing to the discrepancy between Chinese tourists' perceptions of Malaysia's tourism image and the image projected by Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs). The findings revealed that negative news was not the dominant factor driving image discrepancy. Instead, cultural differences-stemming from unclear understanding of religious and local cultures, as well as language barriers-were the primary causes. Additionally, inefficiencies in DMOs' promotion of Malaysia's multi-ethnic identity and an overemphasis on medical tourism, which failed to attract Chinese tourists, were identified as secondary factors. This study provides valuable insights into the complex impact of sudden events on tourism and offers guidance for Destination Management Organizations to better align projected and perceived destination images to facilitate tourism recovery.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.