Abstract: The story marketing is an effective marketing tool to improve the communication effriciency between tourist attractions and consumers. A successful story can provide fast associations for tourist attractions, much more effective than rational narrations. Taking some famous Chinese scenic spots as examples, this paper applies the research method of the grounded theory to construct the theoretic framework of scenic spots story marketing. It sums up the story marketing theory into “four levels”and“fifteen dimensions”. The results indicate that if the scenic spots want to use the story marketing tools effectively, they must have a scientific design on the value orientation of the scenic spots, as well as the contents, forms and carriers of the stories. The results of this study can provide a new perspective for the tourist attractions to spread or mould their brands.

Key words: scenic spots; story marketing; theoretical framework; grounded theory