Cute mascots endowed with local cultural meanings can reignite the positive sentiment of both residents and potential tourists when a tourism destination suffers from a negative image. However, the marketing importance of tourism mascots has not been fully recognized in past research. This study adopted survey and experimental research designs to fill the gap, based on the theory of stereotyping and the stimulus-organism-response theory. The results suggested that the tourism mascot framework could be fully validated among both out-group (potential tourists) and in-group (residents) stereotyping perspectives. Cultural meaning and cuteness in a cartoon character were found to influence both residents' and potential tourists' perceptions of competence and warmth. However, the effect of cuteness on perceived competence could not be fully ascertained. Both warmth and competence then stimulate residents' and potential tourists’ support to use the tourism mascot in the destination. Finally, managerial implications of tourism mascots in destination promotion and image recovery were discussed.

当旅游目的地形象受到负面影响时，具有当地文化意义的可爱吉祥物可以重新激发居民和潜在游客的积极情绪。然而，旅游吉祥物的营销重要性在过去的研究中并未得到充分认识。本研究以刻板印象理论和刺激-机体-反应理论为基础，采用调查和实验研究设计来填补这一空白。结果表明，旅游吉祥物框架可以在群体外（潜在游客）和群体内（居民）的刻板印象观点中得到充分验证。发现卡通人物的文化意义和可爱程度会影响居民和潜在游客对能力和温暖的看法。然而，无法完全确定可爱对感知能力的影响。热情和能力都会激发居民和潜在游客在目的地使用旅游吉祥物的支持。最后，讨论了旅游吉祥物在目的地推广和形象恢复中的管理意义。