The effect of authenticity on visitors’ expenditure at cultural events

The main aim of this study is to analyse the influence of the perceived authenticity of cultural events and their products on shopping expenditure. The quantitative analysis is based on 1275 self-administered questionnaires collected among event attendees in three different Northern Italian Christmas Markets in 2008. In order to estimate separately the determinants of the propensity of respondents to shop and how much money they are willing to spend for each kind of purchase, we have adopted a double-hurdle model. The results show that tourists are more likely to spend and that they do spend more if they consider the event and the products sold to be authentic. This study also reveals that socio-demographic factors and visit motives are interrelated with authenticity perception and together affect the amount of personal expenditures during the event. Finally, some implications of the study are discussed.     

The effects of perceived authenticity,information search behaviour,motivation and destination imagery on cultural behavioural intentions of tourists

This study tested a structural model which investigates the effects of perceived authenticity, motivation, information search behaviour and destination imagery on tourists' behavioural intentions to consume cultural attractions. Data were collected at selected cultural and natural heritage sites in the island of Mauritius (N?=?600). The sample was split into two data sets. Structural equation modelling and hierarchical multiple regression were employed to test the hypothesised relationships. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between perceived authenticity and cultural behavioural intentions of tourists. Destination imagery had an influence on tourists' cultural intentions. Information search behaviour was found to exert a negative influence on tourists' cultural intentions while motivation did not have any influence on the latter. Perceived authenticity was seen to exert a moderating effect on the respective relationships between motivation, information search behaviour, destination imagery and cultural behavioural intentions of tourists. The theoretical and managerial implications of the study are discussed.     

Re-enactment Events and Tourism: Meaning,Authenticity and Identity

Re-enactment events have began to play a significant role in the calendars of individual attractions, regions or even nations to generate media exposure, develop inbound tourism activity and raise the cultural heritage profile of a locality for community development and/or regeneration purposes. The (re-)presentation of cultural heritage in these forms creates a unique set of interactions between landscapes, local communities, tourists and heritage organisations. In the recent past however, re-enactment events have been subjected to increased debate and criticism as to their educational value and meaning and for their contribution to understandings of cultural heritage in post-modern consumer societies. This paper presents an interdisciplinary review of these debates and draws on small scale research findings to reassess the value of re-enactment events as a means of presenting heritage to audiences. The paper argues that re-enacted historical events achieve a range of purposes and provides examples of evidence from a range of differing perspectives including: public policy and event organisers; re-enactors and academics in the field. It argues that the professional heritage industry, tourists, and re-enactors all contribute to making such events meaningful and as such they represent unique frames through which to understand issues of authenticity and identity in the production and consumption of post-modern cultural heritage attractions.     

Scottish theme towns: have new identities enhanced development?

Three small towns in southwest Scotland have recently been branded as distinct theme towns, based on books, artists and food. This is an attempt to make them more attractive to visitors and thereby improve their economy. The objective of this research is to establish whether the new identities possessed by the towns have enhanced their development. It is argued, using data reviewing the past decade, that they have all developed, albeit at different rates, in terms of the economy and culture. Moreover, it is maintained that social capital has been enhanced and is a factor whose importance has been under-appreciated by planners and observers of this type of process. The relevance of the new identity to the pre-branding identity is also seen as a factor in successful development and ideas of authenticity and heritage are brought to bear on the relationship.     

Intention to Revisit Traditional Folk Events: A Case Study of Qinhuai Lantern Festival,China

The present study aims at analyzing revisit intention of traditional folk events based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and a Consumer‐based Model of Authenticity. The survey data were collected by a questionnaire survey in Nanjing Qinhuai Lantern Festival 2012, China. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed research model. The result shows that perceived behavioral control, motivation and perceived food authenticity of the event, but not attitude and perceived overall authenticity of the event, are valid predictor constructs for visitors' intention to revisit Qinhuai Lantern Festival. The findings have implications for the promotion of traditional events and festival tourism. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motivational determinates of creative tourism: a case study of Albergue art space in Macau

ABSTRACT

Creative tourism is a new genre of tourism eliciting active tourist participation in learning and experiences. This study explores tourists’ motivations for participating in creative activities, as well as their perceptions of authenticity following a visit to the Albergue Art Space located in Macau, SAR, China. Empirical results indicate that vernacular heritage, service quality and participatory experience are key determinates for developing creative tourism. Sightseeing, social contact, self-improvement and escape emerge as primary motivations for participating in creative activities. In addition, tourist perceptions of authenticity in the context of creative tourism encompass objective and existential components. This study proposes to incorporate aspects of participatory experience into creative tourism products.     

Does authenticity exist in cultural theme parks? A case study of Millennium City Park in Henan,China

ABSTRACT

Authenticity has always been a salient concept in tourism studies. Most previous studies focused on cultural heritage sites while much less research was conducted on man-made attractions. Given the importance of authenticity in the tourism industry, this research investigates different authenticity concepts in a unique context: a Chinese cultural theme park. Millennium City Park is a typical cultural theme park in Kaifeng, Henan, China, and was chosen as the case study. This study identifies the perception of authenticity from the perspectives of both park managers and park visitors. It is found that visitors value authentic experience in the experience economy. Authenticity plays an important role in the tourism industry, in which activity-related authenticity is more important to visitors than object-related authenticity in cultural theme parks since visitors prefer more participation and involvement during their visits. It is suggested that park planners emphasize cultural elements in various products in cultural theme parks.     

Street markets as tourist attractions—Victoria Market,Auckland, New Zealand

The paper reports findings from a qualitative study of 25 respondents visiting Victoria Market, New Zealand as to their motives for visiting a market, and their perceptions of this specific market. Open‐ended questioning based on semi‐structured conversation created data analysed using the neural network program CATPAC. The findings note three forms of shopping, the role of cultural components in the market and an appreciation of the market's colourful ambience. However, visitors from Europe still tended to look for value for money when buying objects and had concerns over perceived ‘authenticity’ while Asian shoppers tended to value more the overall ambience. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The visitors' perception of authenticity at the museums: archaeology versus modern art

The aim of this paper is to analyse quantitatively the visitors' perception of authenticity in two different types of museums: archaeology versus modern and contemporary art. The research is based on 1288 questionnaires collected from June to September 2011 among the visitors of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology (ÖTZI) in Bolzano and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MART) in Trento-Rovereto. Logit models were used in order to estimate the set of independent variables that significantly influence both the perception of the authenticity and the ‘virtual’ choice between the two types of museums considered. The results suggested that the authenticity perception was related to peculiar authenticity-related factors and by specific socio-demographic characteristics of the interviewee, although some common elements emerge. In particular, ÖTZI authenticity is linked to its uniqueness in the world, whereas MART visitors relate authenticity to the museum's building and the perception that it was not just a tourist attraction. The empirical evidence confirms the well-known concept that authenticity perception is a dynamic experience, depending on the peculiar characteristics of the attraction analysed.     

How to promote sustainable public bike system from a psychological perspective?

The public bike system (PBS) has been actively promoted worldwide for the last decade. This study tried to find out policy strategies for sustainable PBS implementation targeting on the city that is under consideration of introducing bike sharing scheme. For this, the authors considered some psychological factors that may make impacts on PBS user's attitudes and hypothesized especially that individual environmental concern refers to an attitude toward environmental issues, influence an increase of their perceived value of PBS. The Norm Activation Model (NAM) is used to measure the public's environmental concern incorporating norm activation. In addition, willingness to pay (WTP) method is adopted to investigate the value of PBS individuals. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that environmental concern influenced people's perception of the value of PBS. Furthermore, the positive correlation between environmental concern and awareness of consequences on cycling is observed. The study verifies how people perceive the value of a bike sharing system and how often people using a bicycle are dependent on their environmental concern. In conclusion, authors discuss how PBS could be promoted sustainably by suggesting policy strategies to enhance the perceived value of PBS and to increase bicycle use.     

Spiritual well-being and restorative experiences: A case of a religious shrine

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the economic value of various functions of pilgrimage sites in the modern ere as pilgrimage became popular. To survey was conducted with pilgrims and tourists visiting the Solmoe Shrine, the birth place of Father Andrew Kim, the first ordained priest of Korea, and is located in Dangjin City, South Korea. Conservative evaluation method based on real setting scenarios 2, willingness-to-pay (WTP) for preservation value of Solmoe Shrine was estimated at KRW141,366 ($105) a year per household or approximately KRW2.95 trillion ($2.188 billion) depending on WTP truncated mean. According to the results of the study, the psychological variables that influence the willingness to pay were the restorative experience and spiritual well-being. These results can be seen that in the modern era, pilgrimage is greatly linked not only to religious purposes but also to personal health.     

Simplifying choice through attribute preservation or non-attendance: Implications for willingness to pay

There is a growing interest in seeking out rules that individuals invoke when processing information in choice experiments. A rule that is attracting attention in stated choice studies is the extent to which respondents attend to or ignore one or more attributes in processing the information on offer. A model specification method is implemented in the context of a stated choice data set where car drivers choose between tolled and non-tolled routes. The evidence into a willingness to pay (WTP) for travel time savings is obtained, and contrasted with the results from the traditional full preservation model. The evidence suggests that the WTP is sufficiently different and higher, on average.     

Slow-food-seeking behaviour,authentic experience,and perceived slow value of a slow-life festival

This study examines the antecedents and consequences of perceived “slow” value in a structural model – specifically, the role authenticity plays for visitors who seek slow food and participate in slow-life-related programme activities. Data were collected from participants in a slow-life festival in South Korea. Results show that slow-food-seeking behaviour has a significant effect on the authentic experience, and both concepts affect the perception of “slow” value of the event. Attitude and the intention to revisit were significant consequences of “slow” value. This study extends the knowledge about tourist behaviour in slow-life-related activities, particularly in a non-Western context, and suggests that a slow-life-related event should consider visitors’ preference for slow food and a programme that stages authentic experiences.     

Perception of authenticity of tourist art among Native American artists in Santa Fe,New Mexico

This study investigated the authenticity of tourist art from the perspectives of Native American artists in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In‐depth interviews with nine artists revealed that authenticity of art for the artists strongly relates to the traditional manufacturing process. Indeed, the artists alter their art piece's exterior to appeal to tourists while also adhering to the traditional process of manufacture. Rather than connoting a loss of authenticity, they identify the process as an “enlargement” of the culture. The challenge for the artists is to improve understanding of the significance of the manufacturing process among tourists and younger generations of artists. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Authenticity,experience, and loyalty in the festival context: Evidence from the San Fermin festival,Spain

This study empirically investigates the relationships among authenticity, experience – measured by emotions (i.e. pleasure and arousal) along with satisfaction, and loyalty in the festival context. Structural equation modelling is employed to examine a sample of 211 visitors attending the San Fermin festival in Spain. Results show that authenticity positively affects experience, while on the other hand, only arousal has positive effects on satisfaction and festival loyalty. Satisfaction is positively associated with festival loyalty.     

Music,Emotion and Authenticity: A Study of Celtic Music Festival Consumers

This paper centres upon the concept, authenticity, within the context of a Celtic music festival. Increasing attention has been paid to the music–tourism relationship and this paper seeks to elaborate upon the contested meanings and dimensions of Celtic music in the wake of its commodification through tourism. Attention is accorded to the interlocking tensions relating to commodification and authenticity within music and tourism studies and, moreover, the role of emotion within the authenticity and music debate. Drawing upon empirical research conducted at a Celtic music festival (Glasgow, Scotland) comprising in-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey, it is suggested the festival audience attach authenticity to the music on the basis of their emotional interaction with the music. This occurs by the ways in which emotion is evoked within the music and the relationship between music, emotion and audience identities.     

Substantial authenticity, (post/)modernity and transformation of otherness: the second trip of Camilo Jose Cela to the Alcarria

A review of literature on authenticity argues in favour of what is called here substantial authenticity, against objective, constructed and existential notions, argued as non-mutually exclusive. Several themes in substantial authenticity are found in Nuevo viaje a la Alcarria (New Journey to the Alcarria), a book by the Nobel Prize winner for Literature Camilo Jose Cela: nostalgia/hostility to modern society; social integration; autonomy from society; opposition to capitalism/commodification and opposition to pose/style/fashion. Besides the characteristically modern stance implied by some of such engagements with authenticity, Cela's work also presents postmodern traits (such as disregard for knowledge and ambiguity as to its own (non)-fictional status), prompting a discussion on the limits of the non-fictional text. The discussion is especially relevant because the authority of Cela as a famous writer (which he reinforces by concealing sources and suggesting mystical access to Otherness) enables him to apparently change the very social and cultural landscape in which he travels. This takes place both in the long-run (the region already contains markers of his first trip, which are likely to be reinforced by the second) and in the short-run (immediate transformative effects in the interaction between the author and local people).     

Does a Terroir Product Tell the Same Story to Tourists,Day‐trippers and Local Consumers? The Moderating Role of Variety‐seeking Tendency and Perceived Authenticity

The issue of segmentation of the culinary tourism market is central for local economic actors because many products and activities address several marketing targets, including tourists and residents. This research shows that the assessment of the attributes of a terroir cheese is not altered by the consumer's tourist status. In contrast, taking into account the underlying motivations behind culinary tourism, an individual variable (the variety‐seeking tendency) and a variable related to the product (its perceived authenticity) appear as relevant segmentation criteria for such a culinary tourism product. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Re-creating rural performing arts for tourism in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This article explores the creative process driven by an understanding of local values and how villagers wished to present their life, land and culture to the tourists visiting the area. The local community brought their knowledge of both the artforms and the significance they held in terms of village identity and cohesion, whilst the research team helped to integrate the chosen elements into a coherent large-scale performance. The practical steps involved the philosophical underpinnings in terms of authenticity. A typical member of the public’s idea of authenticity may be of something that is traditional, that has remained unchanged for countless generations. In practice, the arts do not operate in this way, both artforms and the meanings they hold for people are in a constant state of flux, changing to meet the changing needs and aspirations of society. Therefore, in creating a performance that could present an ‘authentic’ view of village life for tourists, we began by understanding the values of the community, and allowed the performance to develop organically from this, based on a local legend that expressed both the history of the area and the values of the villagers.     

The implications on willingness to pay of a stochastic treatment of attribute processing in stated choice studies

Individuals processing the information in a stated choice experiment are asked to evaluate a set of attributes offered and to choose their most preferred alternative. It has always been thought that some attributes are not attended to in this process for many reasons, including a coping strategy to handle their perception of the complexity of the choice task. However analysts proceed, with rare exception, to estimate discrete choice models as if all attributes have influenced the outcome to some degree. In this paper we investigate the implications of bounding the attribute processing task by attribute elimination through not attending to one or more attributes. Using a sample of car non-commuters in Sydney we estimate a mixed logit model in which all attributes are assumed to be attended to, and models which assume that certain attribute(s) are not attended to, based on supplementary information provided by respondents. The supplementary information is accounted for in a deterministic and a stochastic way; the latter in recognition of the analyst’s lack of full information on why a specific attribute processing (AP) strategy was adopted by each sampled individual. We compare the value of travel time savings distribution under alternative attribute processing regimes. As expected, there are noticeable variations in the mean and standard deviation willingness to pay (WTP) across the three AP strategies.