Destination image is considered one of the most researched topics in tourism. Studies have focused on how image formation agents can be leveraged to shape the image of a destination, with research on social media emerging in prominence. Despite this growth, limited research has focused on the confluence of viral marketing, profanity and destination image, especially among young social media savvy users. Consequently, the aim of this article is to explore how a viral marketing campaign incorporating profanity impacts on the cognitive, affective and conative components of destination image. An unofficial viral social media campaign in Australia was selected as a case study. Findings revealed attitudes were overwhelmingly positive towards the viral campaign. Profanity was considered by the respondents as a novel technique for stimulating destination awareness. Although profanity stimulated awareness, and the use of profanity reinforced a stereotypical image, there was negligible evidence of transfer to intention to travel. A conceptual model of destination image reinforcement is articulated. Future studies need to consider the benefits and risks of profanity in a social media campaign and the subsequent implications for destination image.

目的地形象被认为是旅游中研究最多的主题之一。研究的重点是如何利用图像形成代理来塑造目的地的形象，对社交媒体的研究日益突出。尽管有这种增长，但有限的研究集中在病毒式营销、亵渎和目的地形象的融合上，尤其是在精通社交媒体的年轻用户中。因此，本文的目的是探讨包含亵渎语言的病毒式营销活动如何影响目的地形象的认知、情感和意动成分。澳大利亚的一项非官方病毒式社交媒体活动被选为案例研究。调查结果显示，人们对病毒式运动的态度非常积极。受访者认为亵渎是一种刺激目的地意识的新技术。虽然脏话刺激了意识，脏话的使用强化了刻板印象，但转移到旅行意图的证据可以忽略不计。阐述了目的地图像强化的概念模型。未来的研究需要考虑社交媒体活动中亵渎语言的好处和风险以及对目的地形象的后续影响。