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Investigating the motivation–experience relationship in a dark tourism space: A case study of the Beichuan earthquake relics, China

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  • Yan, Bing-Jin
  • Zhang, Jie
  • Zhang, Hong-Lei
  • Lu, Shao-Jing
  • Guo, Yong-Rui

Abstract

This study identifies implications of dark tourism and describes how tourists and destinations, which are principal collateral cores, define what constitutes “dark” travel. The study also examines the dimensions of dark tourism motivation and experience and finds that the former partly affects the latter. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis aimed to examine why tourists approach and engage with disaster sites and how such experiences may affect tourists motivation and emotional reaction. It is the first paper that applies structural equation modelling to dark tourism research. We focus on the causal relationships between dimensions of motivation and experience, and the relationship that the emotional reactions effect on tourist experiences. We find that the curious visitors are likely to engage cognitively by learning about the incident or related issues and tourists' emotional reaction to the “dark” space influence more heavily emotional tourist experiences than cognitive experiences do.

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  • Yan, Bing-Jin & Zhang, Jie & Zhang, Hong-Lei & Lu, Shao-Jing & Guo, Yong-Rui, 2016. "Investigating the motivation–experience relationship in a dark tourism space: A case study of the Beichuan earthquake relics, China," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 108-121.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:53:y:2016:i:c:p:108-121
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2015.09.014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Chang, Seohee, 2018. "Experience economy in hospitality and tourism: Gain and loss values for service and experience," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 55-63.
    2. Podoshen, Jeffrey S. & Yan, Grace & Andrzejewski, Susan A. & Wallin, Jason & Venkatesh, Vivek, 2018. "Dark tourism, abjection and blood: A festival context," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 346-356.
    3. Simona Franzoni & Michelle Bonera, 2019. "How DMO Can Measure the Experiences of a Large Territory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Zhang, Honglei & Yang, Yang & Zheng, Chunhui & Zhang, Jie, 2016. "Too dark to revisit? The role of past experiences and intrapersonal constraints," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 452-464.
    5. Light, Duncan, 2017. "Progress in dark tourism and thanatourism research: An uneasy relationship with heritage tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 275-301.
    6. Brida, Juan Gabriel & González Rosas, Erika Lourdes & Seijas Giménez, María Nela, 2023. "Dark satisfaction in Guanajuato’s Mummies Museum visitors," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 15-24.
    7. María Genoveva Dancausa Millán & María Genoveva Millán Vázquez de la Torre & Ricardo Hernández Rojas, 2021. "Dark Tourism in Southern Spain (Córdoba): An Analysis of the Demand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Jun Zhang & Li Cheng, 2019. "Threshold Effect of Tourism Development on Economic Growth Following a Disaster Shock: Evidence from the Wenchuan Earthquake, P.R. China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Yanting Cai & Gang Li & Chang Liu & Long Wen, 2022. "Post-pandemic dark tourism in former epicenters," Tourism Economics, , vol. 28(1), pages 175-199, February.
    10. José Magano & José A. Fraiz-Brea & Ângela Leite, 2022. "Dark Tourists: Profile, Practices, Motivations and Wellbeing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-20, September.
    11. Peng Yang & Shanshan Dai & Honggang Xu & Peng Ju, 2018. "Perceived Environmental, Individual and Social Factors of Long-Distance Collective Walking in Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, November.

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