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The Impact of Emotional Experience on Tourists’ Cultural Identity and Behavior in the Cultural Heritage Tourism Context: An Empirical Study on Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

Author

Listed:
  • Yang Yang

    (School of History & Tourism, Hexi University, Zhangye 734000, China)

  • Zhengyun Wang

    (Tourism Department, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

  • Han Shen

    (School of History & Tourism, Hexi University, Zhangye 734000, China
    Tourism Department, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

  • Naipeng Jiang

    (Tourism Department, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

Abstract

The emotions perceived by tourists and their effects in the tourism context are increasingly highlighted in tourism studies. In the cultural heritage tourism context, tourists’ emotional experience comes from their cognitive evaluation of the natural environment and the humanistic environment and triggers deep cognitive processing and prosocial behavior, further building tourists’ identity with culture and enhancing their awareness and heritage conservation behavior. Based on the theory of emotional evaluation and positive emotional expansion and construction, this study constructed the research model of emotional arousal—positive emotional experience—tourists’ cultural identity—heritage protection behavior. Three hundred and ninety-seven tourists’ data were empirically tested using the World Heritage Site, the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, as a case site. The study found that in the cultural heritage tourism context, the cognitive evaluation of the natural and humanistic environment has the effect of inducing positive emotional experience among tourists; positive emotional experience positively influences tourists’ cultural identity and heritage conservation behavior; and they are part of the mediating variables of tourists’ emotion elicitation and cultural identity. The results of this study will further enrich the theoretical research on emotions in the cultural heritage tourism context and also help the relevant departments of cultural heritage tourism further enhance tourists’ cultural identity and heritage conservation behaviors from the perspective of tourists’ emotional experience. The future research could focus on investigating the emotional triggers’ impact on tourists’ cultural identity and heritage conservation behavior in relation to a particular cultural experience activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang Yang & Zhengyun Wang & Han Shen & Naipeng Jiang, 2023. "The Impact of Emotional Experience on Tourists’ Cultural Identity and Behavior in the Cultural Heritage Tourism Context: An Empirical Study on Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:8823-:d:1159713
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Enxu Wang & Caiyun Shen & Jingjing Zheng & Di Wu & Ning Cao, 2021. "The antecedents and consequences of awe in dark tourism," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(8), pages 1169-1183, April.
    2. Zhenfeng Cheng & Xin Chen, 2022. "The Effect of Tourism Experience on Tourists’ Environmentally Responsible Behavior at Cultural Heritage Sites: The Mediating Role of Cultural Attachment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Jiunn-Ger Tony Li & Jai-Ok Kim & So Young Lee, 2009. "An empirical examination of perceived retail crowding, emotions, and retail outcomes," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 635-652, May.
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