THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VISUAL STYLE AND EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT IN MOBILE TOURISM APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Mobile tourism applications are designed to deliver both functional usability and emotionally engaging experiences. This article examines how visual style is associated with emotional engagement in four mobile tourism applications used in Bulgaria: 100 Places Bulgaria, I Love Bulgaria, The Hundred National Tourist Sites of Bulgaria, and Opoznai.bg. A comparative mixed-methods user experience design approach was employed, incorporating a seven-point Likert scale and an Emo-card assessment with 85 respondents, along with three task-based think-aloud interviews. The analysis concentrates on four recurring interface components: overall map appearance, menu layout, landmark distribution, and achievement screen design. The results indicate that a clearer visual hierarchy, well-structured content distribution, and more visible progress cues are linked to stronger positive emotional engagement. Among the cases analysed, 100 Places Bulgaria exhibits the most positive emotional profile, whereas Opoznai.bg demonstrates functional strengths but weaker visual coherence. These findings support integrating affective measures into user experience evaluation for tourism-oriented mobile applications.