Effective promotions for membership subscriptions and renewals to tourist attractions: Discount vs. bonus

•We investigated the effective promotions for tourist attraction membership.•Bonus was more effective than discount for new membership subscriptions.•Tourists who had previously renewed memberships did not distinguish between discount and bonus for renewal promotions.•Tourists who had never renewed memberships preferred bonus at hedonic attractions but discount at utilitarian attractions.

Tourist attractions actively promote membership subscriptions and renewals. Although discount promotions are commonly utilized in practice, the literature review suggested that bonus promotions, such as an “extra three months,” could be more effective. Two experiments were conducted to identify effective promotions for membership subscriptions and renewals. Bonus promotions were found to be more effective than discount promotions at generating more positive tourist attitudes and behavioral intentions toward new subscriptions. In contrast, neither bonus nor discount renewal promotions were more effective for tourists who had previously renewed membership. However, tourists who had never renewed memberships to utilitarian attractions, such as botanic gardens, preferred discount promotions, whereas tourists who had never renewed membership to hedonic attractions, such as theme parks, preferred bonus promotions. This implies that attraction managers should offer tailored promotions to encourage membership subscriptions and renewals.