Behavior intentions of urban forest recreationists based on structural equation model

Abstract

A visitor's experience quality is determined by the psychological outcome of their involvement in tourist activities. There are traits that are supplied by a site that are then introduced to the visitor's characteristics. Tourists' emotive responses and judgments of their desired social–psychological goals can be used to measure experience quality. Experience quality is often evaluated holistically or gestalt. People's motivation, contentment, and goals have long been studied in western tourism/recreation research as a method of forecasting their post-visit behaviors and behaviors. The Chinese Urban Forest setting has seen a relatively small number of research projects. Supported by the Structural Equation Model (SEM), this paper is aimed to probe into the post-visit behavioral mechanism of urban forest recreationists. The method involves constructing a conceptual model from the review of related literatures. Ten research hypotheses proposed based on literature review are estimated from the data collected in Nanjing, China. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to verify the effect of recreational benefits on post-visit behavioral intentions and to examine the interrelationships among the factors (e.g., image, benefits, value, satisfaction and intentions). According to statistics, the four primary aspects in constructing a terminal image are availability, appearance, branding, and amenities, while the three components of recreational benefits are interpersonal, psychological rewards, practical and recreational benefits primarily depend on the tourists' experience. Meanwhile，the analysis shows that the image factor indirectly affects post-visit behavioral decision of urban forest recreationists, while recreational benefits, as a variable to measure perceived quality, and exerts together direct as well as indirect effects on behavioral intentions. For urban forest owners that cater to the rising number of Chinese outdoor recreationists, all of the above stated studies provide valuable information.