The roles of perceived internal and external benefits and costs in innovation co-creation: lessons from Japan

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that motivate tourists to engage in collaborative efforts with tourist destinations for the co-creation of innovative tourism products. Targeting tourists who have visited Tokyo for tourism purpose, the study verifies the antecedents of tourists’ intention to co-create, which include perceived benefits (PB), perceived costs (PC), subjective norms, and ability to co-create tourism innovation. This study further reveals that PC do not have a significant impact on tourists’ intention to participate in innovation co-creation activities, while the other antecedents play important roles. Also, separating PB and costs into internal and external factors, perceived internal benefits (PIB) play a significant role in motivating tourists to participate in co-creation, while perceived external benefits do not. Practical implications are provided for destinations such as Japan to encourage tourists to share their valuable knowledge to improve tourism products and services of tourist destinations.     

A process perspective on experience co-creation: How pre-trip involvement prompts destination loyalty

Although the existing literature has suggested that tourists' experience co-creation during or after trips benefits destination loyalty, knowledge of how pre-trip behavior impacts future behavioral intention from a process perspective is limited. To address the gaps, we develop a logic chain linking past behavior, cognition, emotion, and future behavioral intention under a stage-by-stage process of tourists' experience co-creation using the service-dominant logic of value co-creation theory and the self-consistency principle of attitude theory. Empirically, utilizing PLS-SEM and mediation analysis in a survey (n = 500) and an experiment (n = 128), we found a serial mediation pathway whereby high-degree pre-trip involvement heightened satisfaction with the co-creation of experience, which increased place identity or place dependence, and which ultimately enhanced destination loyalty. This research is the first attempt to examine the impact of past behavior on future intention for tourists’ experience co-creation from a process perspective.     

Exploring the influence of tourists’ happiness on revisit intention in the context of Traditional Chinese Medicine cultural tourism

Based on how tourists interpret the destination experience and on attachment theory, this study investigates the influencing mechanism of tourists' happiness on revisit intention for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cultural tourism destinations. Three tourist samples confirm the three dimensions of tourists' happiness: positive emotions, engagement, and meaning. Two surveys were conducted to test the direct and indirect influence of tourists' happiness on revisit intention and the moderating role of tourists' health consciousness. The results show that tourists' happiness promotes memorable tourism experience and place attachment, in turn stimulating revisit intention. The results also support health consciousness as a significant moderator between happiness, place attachment, and revisit intention. The findings enrich theoretical understanding of tourists’ happiness and provide marketing and management advice for TCM cultural tourism destinations.     

Drivers of experience co-creation in food-and-wine tourism: An exploratory quantitative analysis

This paper aims to investigate the underlying drivers of co-creation in food-and-wine tourism experiences and, consequently, to explore how they might influence the level of tourists' active participation in related activities. An online survey was developed and sent to platforms specialised in food-and-wine related tourism experiences. A total of 243 valid responses were obtained. The hypotheses were tested using multivariate statistical analysis. The research results reveal that experience co-creation, the interaction between tourists and local residents, the interaction between tourists and frontline tourism employees, operant resources, and satisfaction influence the level of active participation in food-and-wine tourism experiences. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing and testing a model that explores the drivers of co-creation in food-and-wine settings. The theoretical and managerial implications of these results are discussed.     

Tourist expertise and pre-travel value co-creation: Task-related processes and beyond

Our knowledge of how tourists could co-create value in the pre-travel stage is limited. This should be particularly worrying for tourism providers, as they could gain competitive advantage by improving their understanding of these processes and responding accordingly. Based on service-dominant logic, this study explores this gap in research by identifying three value co-creation processes that occur before a trip (travel organization, information seeking, and mental time travel) and examining the contribution of tourist expertise on each of these processes. Although previous studies tend to assimilate co-creation with “tasks,” this study focuses on mental time travel, which is the only pre-travel value co-creation process that contributes value to the consumer without involving costs. An empirical study with 984 French and Spanish tourists was conducted, the results of which corroborate the particular salience of expertise predicted by service-dominant logic.     

DEVELOPING DESTINATION LOYALTY: THE CASE OF HAINAN ISLAND

The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated model to examine the antecedents to Chinese domestic tourists’ destination loyalty. Chinese tourists are rapidly gaining attention from both researchers and practitioners, mainly due to their enormous economic implications; however, this is still a largely understudied group in tourism and hospitality literature. Data were collected from tourists to Hainan Island, China and analyzed utilizing a structural equation modeling approach. Findings of this study revealed that destination familiarity, destination image, perceived value, and tourist satisfaction all influenced Chinese domestic tourists’ destination loyalty. Implications for Hainan tourism marketers and managers were discussed.     

Bringing the past to life: Co-creating tourism experiences in historic house tourist attractions

This ethnographic study concentrates on the co-creation of experiential value between the tourist and tour guide in a single historic tourism site; Huntingdon Castle, Ireland. Built upon the principles of service dominant logic, the research explores how storytelling acts as an engagement platform and value enhancing strategic resource. In doing so, it impels the value co-creation journey and shapes the tourist's experience. Observation is coupled with qualitative interviews to capture the dual perspective of both guides and tourists. Findings exhibit the co-creation process through the performance of stories; how and when people derive pleasure (value); the influencing aspects of the environment or place; and guide/tourist perspectives on how they feel and think during the experience. The research contributes by taking a practical operational view of how co-creation occurs. It goes beyond the guide's perspective and exhibits the importance of co-creation of lived experience in the story enhanced tourism experience framework.     

强关系网络移动社交平台旅游分享行为研究——基于微信与QQ用户的资料分析

在移动社交媒体时代,旅游分享已成为当下旅游者的行为偏好,越来越多的旅游者选择微信、QQ这类强关系移动社交平台进行分享。国内学界对移动社交平台旅游分享行为的研究随之日增,但少有文章从理论上系统地揭示旅游分享行为的过程与动因。文章采用扎根理论研究方法,构建反映强关系网络移动社交平台的旅游分享动态过程理论模型。将旅游分享行为动态过程划分为分享前因、分享实现与分享结果3个阶段,总结每个阶段的行为特征、表现方式及阶段之间的演替规律,并探讨这类旅游分享行为的特点与动因。研究发现,在旅游分享动机上,强关系移动社交平台强调情感联结与互动,从而旅游者受到与个体相关动机的影响更为显著;分享内容上,平台的强关系特性与熟人社交促使旅游者尽量避免分享负面信息;分享结果上,强关系移动社交平台的旅游分享能调节旅游者行中、行后的体验水平,并形成兼具网络时空拓展性与熟人圈规模局限性的口碑传播。     

The memorable souvenir-shopping experience: antecedents and outcomes

This study examines the relationship among authenticity, satisfaction, co-creation, memorable souvenir-shopping experiences, and place attachment. A post-holiday web-based survey was conducted among tourists to Rovaniemi, Finland, and a valid sample of 301 tourists was used for data analysis. The survey results show that satisfaction and co-creation during onsite souvenir shopping at a tourism destination create memorable souvenir shopping experiences, and that such memories enhance tourists’ feelings of attachment to the destination. The implications for retail management are that souvenir vendors should offer a large assortment of souvenirs to suit tourists’ individual tastes. Souvenir retailers can enhance customer satisfaction through taking such steps as training personnel on customer shopping satisfaction, extending operating hours, broadening the accepted means of payment, and improving the quality and display of products as well as the external appearance of their shops. Additionally, souvenir retailers should interact with customers and engage in onsite co-creation to arouse interest and attention.     

The co-creation/place attachment nexus

Co-creation in tourism has investigated a range of ways in which consumers are becoming increasingly involved in defining and creating services and products. These activities, however, constitute only a small portion of the full range of tourism experiences. The current concentration on co-creation of (mostly service-dominated) tourism products needs to be expanded to accommodate elements such as the physical environment and local social and cultural milieus of tourism. This article appropriates concepts and models from the discourse of place attachment to demonstrate an approach to extending the co-creation concept to include experiences of the physical tourism site, not merely as the setting of a service relation, but as a fundamental dimension of the tourism experience. This approach is tested and demonstrated based on an analysis and discussion of the findings of a survey study of tourists to the Historic Center of Macao.     

Human value co-creation behavior in tourism: Insight from an Australian whale watching experience

This study explores and tests a comprehensive model of co-creation in creating value and tourist satisfaction. In addition to being the first study to empirically test the customer value co-creation behavior scale developed by Yi and Gong (2013), the present work adds to theory by revealing the importance of tourists' mental co-creation and employees' active participation in creating value and satisfaction for the customer. Factor analyses and econometric models of logit model and multivariable ordinary least squares regression are applied to a sample of 1024 whale watching tourists. The study finds that tourists' participation is more important in influencing their perceived value during the experience than their satisfaction. Employees' input is key to the experience in enhancing tourists' value and satisfaction. The main contribution of the study is the inclusion of co-creation behaviors from different human actors including tourists and employees. Opportunities for future research are outlined.     

The Antecedents and Consequences of Travelers' Need for Uniqueness: An Empirical Study of Restaurant Experiences

Dining out at a restaurant is one of the most important parts of travelers' tourism experience. The purpose of this research was to examine the antecedents and consequences of travelers' need for uniqueness (CNFU) in their restaurant experiences. Based on a literature review, three theoretical antecedents (perceived firm innovativeness (PFI), perceived firm uniqueness, and brand prestige) and three theoretical consequences (utilitarian value, hedonic value, and behavioral intentions) were proposed. During this process, it was theorized that consumers' uniqueness-seeking behaviors can be strengthened and/or weakened by three psychological moderators: attention to social comparison information (ATSCI), face consciousness, and materialism. By integrating the theoretical arguments, a structural model was proposed. The proposed model was tested using data collected from 379 travelers who had dined out at a luxury restaurant in the past three months. According to the data analysis results, PFI, perceived firm uniqueness, and brand prestige were all confirmed to be important factors in enhancing CNFU. Furthermore, it was determined that CNFU bears a positive impact on behavioral intentions, an impact that is mediated by perceived value. Lastly, the moderating roles of ATSCI and materialism were found to be significant. In the latter part of this research, managerial implications derived from the data analysis results are discussed.     

Co-Creation Experiences: Attention and Memorability

This study examines the on-site co-creation experience from a tourist perspective. A review of the literature and in-depth interviews with tourists who participated in a ‘swimming with dolphins’ experience are used to explore the importance of co-creation in enhancing attention and the memorability of the experience. Findings suggest that the co-creation experience influences memorability by focusing the tourist’s attention. This study contributes to the conceptualization of co-creation in the field of tourism by substantiating the usefulness of a psychologically based approach to experience design.     

Considering the role of agritourism co-creation from a service-dominant logic perspective

In recent decades, providing production and service simultaneously has remained an unsolved problem in developing agritourism. This study adopted the concept of service-dominant logic, with a service blueprint to assist entrepreneurs in designing agritourism activities that will enhance the tourists' experience within four working farm field experiments. The results showed that agritourism activities with SDL design (experiment B) did not comprehensively enhance the experience of tourists learning agricultural knowledge. The agricultural activities (i.e., experience of rural culture) (experiment C) and other tourist behaviors (i.e., tourists' mutual engagement) (experiment D) were integrated with SDL agritourism activities in order to more effectively enhance the tourists' experience of agritourism and lead to an increase in tourists' intention to revisit and actual purchase of agricultural products. Based on our findings, rural culture and tourists' mutual engagement were critical for agribusiness to integrate the specific characteristics of internal service (e.g., agritourism activities or service strategy).     

Wellness tourism and spatial stigma: A case study of Bama,China

This study focused on the stigmatisation of an emerging wellness tourism destination due to patient travel for tourism. The concept of spatial stigma was adopted to explore how local residents perceive, experience and manage the particular negative effects of wellness tourism. The study investigated Bama Yao Autonomous County, colloquially known as ‘Bama’, in China, to which many tourists with cancer and other chronic diseases travel. The results showed that the influx of wellness tourists brought significant challenges in this area. The residents reported ambivalent experiences of and feelings about wellness tourism in local communities, and disagreed with the vilification of wellness tourists. However, they were concerned about the potential consequences of wellness tourism. To manage and resist spatial stigma, the residents deliberately separated themselves from the places occupied by wellness tourists. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the study are discussed.     

旅游公共服务价值共创:概念模型、驱动因素与行为过程--以杭州市社会资源国际访问点为例

与商业服务领域相似,旅游公共服务近年来也经历了由产品主导逻辑向服务主导逻辑演变的过程,由公共服务供需双方共创价值的实践现象已经出现。文章以杭州市社会资源国际访问点为案例,通过扎根理论的方法,探索性地提出旅游公共服务价值共创的概念,剖析了由政府、企业、居民、游客等不同社会主体参与的旅游公共服务价值共创现象,识别了制度保障、增权激励、信息透明、技术摄入、文化契合是实现旅游公共服务价值共创的驱动因素与前提条件。而不同主体间耦合形成的服务生态系统,其内部各要素的互动与整合是旅游公共服务价值共创实现的中介要素。此外,旅游公共服务价值共创的行为过程包括价值主张提出、共创环境营造、社会成员嵌入、社会价值共识、公共价值创造和社会影响输出。文章拓展了价值共创理论在旅游公共服务领域的应用,揭示了共创的内部机理与行为规律,为旅游目的地公共服务发展与供给模式创新提供了理论工具。     

Elucidating the relationships among destination images,recreation experience,and authenticity of the Shengxing Heritage Recreation Area in Taiwan

A destination's image and on-site recreation experience can be regarded as precedents of the authenticity perceived by heritage tourists. Historic images attract tourists to experience the authenticity of a heritage destination. This study examines the linear relationships among destination images, recreation experience, and the perceived authenticity experienced by tourists at the Shengxing Heritage Recreation Area in central Taiwan. In total, 536 usable questionnaires were collected. Analytical results indicate that the cognitive and affective images of a destination directly and significantly affect the recreation experience of tourists at a heritage recreation area. Additionally, recreation experience directly and significantly affects perceived authenticity. Moreover, recreation experience has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between cognitive image and perceived authenticity. We conclude that when tourists visit a heritage-based tourism destination, such as the destination under consideration, these tourists gain tourism image and recreation experiences, which strengthens their perceived authenticity of heritage tourism; as a result, these tourists are more likely to contribute to the development of heritage tourism. Applying this theoretical framework to research on heritage tourism further extends our understanding of the behavioural model of heritage tourists. Finally, this study provides a valuable reference for managers striving to develop heritage tourism.     

Museum visitors’ heterogeneity and experience processing

This research examines the relationships between affective and cognitive antecedents and consequences of satisfaction under a market heterogeneity approach. It includes co-creation of preparatory activities. The sample consisted of 276 museum visitors in London. Two analysis have been conducted: structural equation model and latent class path analysis. The paper contributes to the development of a theoretical framework for further understanding of service experience in which co-creation plays an important role. Two segments were identified: 1) emotional (with lower degree of co-creation, equally distributed by age and nationality); 2) rational (higher degree of co-creation, younger and domestic visitors). Our research shows significant differences between the two segments regarding variables such as satisfaction, loyalty, service experience, emotion, positive disconfirmation and willingness to pay more.     

THE TAIPEI MRT (MASS RAPID TRANSIT) TOURISM ATTRACTION ANALYSIS FROM THE INBOUND TOURISTS' PERSPECTIVES

Of all cities in Taiwan, Taipei is fully internationalized and best‐equipped with a completed metro public transit system. Taipei MRT Company is trying to increase the number of inbound tourists by providing a better travel experience and design different marketing strategies to increase better MRT tourism attraction. The study purposes are to investigate inbound tourists' considerations for choosing public means of transportation during their travel in Taipei City, conduct the tourism attraction analysis of Taipei MRT system from the perspectives of inbound tourists, and identify how inbound tourists' traveling behavior influence their perceptions of Taipei MRT tourism attractions. The study sampled 312 inbound tourists in August and September of 2006 by using a closed‐ended questionnaire. Factor analysis revealed five factors that can be attractive to inbound tourists: holistic, service, information, tourism image, and location attraction. The study result also indicated that inbound tourists with different socio‐economic characteristics, traveling behaviors, and different MRT experience have statistically different perceptions of Taipei MRT Tourism attractions.     

Quality of life (QOL) and well-being research in tourism

Given the recent proliferation of the research on quality of life and wellbeing in tourism, we review this literature and provide guidance to spur future research. The review focuses on two major constituencies: residents of host communities and tourists. Specifically, the goals of this paper are (1) describe study findings, (2) highlight sampling and data collection methods, and (3) discuss issues of construct measurement. The vast majority of the studies related to these two constituencies show that tourism experiences and activities have a significant effect on both tourists' overall life satisfaction and wellbeing of residents. That is, tourists' experiences and tourism activities tend to contribute to positive affect in a variety of life domains such as family life, social life, leisure life, cultural life, among others. Future research is discussed in relation to these two constituencies.