Abstract
Understanding how tourists’ brand experiences impact their existential authenticity, and the role of existential authenticity in the formation mechanism of place attachment to the destination, are key issues for the marketing of a destination. The current study examines the relationship between tourists’ experience, existential authenticity, and place attachment, and the indirect effect of existential authenticity on the relationship between destination brand experience and place attachment from the oriental perspective against the slow tourism background. A self-administered survey was conducted at Yaxi town, the first international slow city in China. A total of 398 samples were analyzed using a two-step approach of the structural equation model (SEM). The findings show that destination brand experience partially impacts existential authenticity, and both the intrapersonal and interpersonal authenticity (the sub-dimensions of existential authenticity) significantly influence place attachment. Additionally, affective and behavioral experience indirectly influence place attachment through existential authenticity. Based on the conclusions, theoretical and practical recommendations are considered.
Highlights
Authenticity has been acknowledged as an academic key word [1] and an essential cultural tourism motivation that drives visitors to a specific place [2,3,4]
Based on the fitness indices [84], the results in the current study indicate a good fit with χ2 = 693.628 (p < 0.05), df = 271, χ2/df = 2.560 (< 3), comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.943 (> 0.9), normed-fit index (NFI) = 0.910 (> 0.9), non-normed-fit index (NNFI) = 0.931 (> 0.9), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.063 (< 0.08), and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.043 (< 0.05)
The measurement model achieved a good fit for the sample data, with χ2 = 695.172 (p < 0.05), df = 276, χ2/df = 2.519 (< 3), comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.943 (>0.9), normed-fit index (NFI) = 0.910 (>0.9), non-normed-fit index (NNFI) = 0.933 (>0.9), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.062 (
Summary
Authenticity has been acknowledged as an academic key word [1] and an essential cultural tourism motivation that drives visitors to a specific place [2,3,4]. The effect of this interaction between place attachment and existential authenticity still needs further study Destination experience is another concept that needs to be discussed in the framework of existential authenticity. The relationship between existential authenticity, destination experience, and place attachment will be explored; and the Sustainability 2020, 12, 2784 predictors and outcomes of existential authenticity will be discussed against a slow tourism background with a quantitative approach. The purposes of this study are as follows: (1) Verifying existential authenticity’s constructs through both intra- and inter-personal authenticity to further extend the current knowledge on tourists’ psychology; (2) Exploring whether experience can influence whether tourists achieve a state of being their true self, and how the existential authenticity can be impacted by tourists experience; (3) Examining the formation mechanism of place attachment by examining the controversial relationship between place attachment and existential authenticity; (4) Testing how and why destination brand experiences influence place attachment through existential authenticity. Based on the findings, the current study may recommend more effective managerial marketing strategies for slow tourism destinations to better utilize authenticity, since it has become a significant concept for destination management
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