Purpose Drawing upon attachment theory, this work examines the antecedents (cognitive image, affective image and conative image) and consequences (festival identity) of place attachment (place dependence, place identity, place affect and place social bonding) in short video presenting Macau festival marketing.

Design/methodology/approach SmartPLS software is a suitable data analysis tool for handling complex models and predicting outcomes in structural equation modeling (SEM) research. Therefore, this study utilized SmartPLS version 3 to conduct data analysis.

Findings Through online survey collection, PLS analysis found that all hypotheses were accepted except for the impact of cognitive image on place dependence, place identity, place social bonding and the effect of place dependence on festival identity.

Originality/value This research applied attachment theory to short-video festival marketing. The research results assist the promotion of festivals using short videos.