Creative Atmosphere in Creative Tourism Destinations: Conceptualizing and Scale Development

Abstract

Creating a creative atmosphere (CA) is the core value of creative tourism. The purpose of this study is conceptualize a construct of CA in “creative tourism destinations,” as well as to establish a set of reliable and valid measurement tools. In Study 1, we generated initial items through in-depth interviews and content analysis. In Study 2, we collected the first sample and investigated scale factor structure through exploratory factor analysis to obtain five factors: novel atmosphere, joyful atmosphere, artistic atmosphere, hedonic atmosphere, and distinctive atmosphere. A second sample was collected in Study 3 to verify the reliability of the CA scale with confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. This process netted 23 items. A major contribution of this study is to develop a multidimensional scale for CA consisting of the five factors—novel atmosphere, pleasurable atmosphere, artistic atmosphere, hedonic atmosphere, and distinctive atmosphere. The results of this study can be applied as a reference measurement tool for designing creative tourism at tourist destinations.

Effects of creative atmosphere on tourists' post‐experience behaviors in creative tourism: The mediation roles of tourist inspiration and place attachment

“…The added symbolic meaning generated by creativity can benefit tourism products or services (Richards, 2020). Creative tourism benefits destinations by highlighting their uniqueness (Cheng & Chen, 2021). Besides, creative recourses are more sustainable than traditional cultural resources in general (Tan et al, 2014).…”

“…From the demand perspective, creative tourism adapts to the needs of tourists who are in pursuit of meaningful experiences (Tan et al, 2014) amid the prevalence of the experience economy (Chen & Chou, 2019). Creative tourism involves tourists in the creative activities or creative life of a destination, through which tourists can generate new ideas (Tan et al, 2016), achieve learning, self‐realization, greater satisfaction (Pulido‐Fernández et al, 2021), and unexpected tourism experience (Cheng & Chen, 2021).…”

“…Regarding the empirical research on creative atmosphere, Cheng and Chen (2021) carried out a pioneering work to elaborate concepts including creative tourism, creativity, and atmosphere. Based on these, they further conceptualized creative atmosphere and established a measurement tool for creative atmosphere through interviews and two questionnaire surveys.…”

“…Linking creativity with tourism is prevalent, because a “creative atmosphere” could increase the appeal of places (Richards, 2020). Creative atmosphere, as one of the crucial elements in creative tourism destinations, refers to individuals' perceptions of creative ambiance produced by the particular surroundings of a destination or an attraction (Cheng & Chen, 2021). Given the prevalence of creative tourism, much attention has been paid to cultivating a creative atmosphere in destinations (Chang & Hung, 2021; Richards, 2011; Richards & Wilson, 2006).…”

“…Previous researchers have documented the role of atmosphere in affecting individuals' internal states and behavioral responses (Bonn et al, 2016; Heide & Gronhaug, 2009). Existing literature has also implied the possible influence of creative atmosphere on tourist behaviors (Cheng & Chen, 2021). However, to date, none of the empirical studies has considered whether and how creative atmosphere influences tourists' post‐experience behaviors (i.e., experience intensification and extension) in the tourism context (Cheng & Chen, 2021).…”