EXPLORING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CULTURAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICE VALUES, SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING, AND LIFE SATISFACTION: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE POST-PANDEMIC ERA

Abstract

Cultural ecosystem services significantly affected human well-being in the COVID-19 era. This study investigates visitors’ cultural ecosystem service values at Saguaro National Park (US) and how those values affect tourists’ spiritual well-being and life satisfaction in the post-pandemic era with an exploratory mixed-methods approach. In a qualitative phase using a netnographic analysis of Instagram data (N = 449), seven themes emerged: national environment, learning, socialization, escape and solitude, mental well-being, outdoor recreation during COVID-19, and tourism during COVID-19. Subsequently, these themes were used to develop and test the proposed hypotheses on data collected from 316 participants of an online survey using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results disclosed that cultural ecosystem service values can significantly affect different dimensions of spiritual well-being. This study emphasizes the mediating role of personal and communal spiritual well-being between cultural ecosystem service values and life satisfaction. Further, it bridges the application of real-time social media surveillance with a content analysis of text and images and a quantitative analysis of qualitative results. The managerial implications provide suggestions for promoting small/medium national parks in the post-pandemic era.