Dark tourism: tourist value and loyalty intentions

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the direct and indirect effects of tourists’ value on satisfaction and loyalty intentions in dark tourism.Design/methodology/approachThis research was conducted using the data collected through a questionnaire survey from 403 tourists visiting a dark tourism destination in India. Data were analyzed using CFA and SPSS macro (Process).FindingsThe findings confirmed that tourists’ values have significant direct and indirect effects on loyalty intentions via satisfaction in dark tourism. Among specific value, the strongest direct and indirect influence of emotional value in dark tourism is the unique finding of this research.Practical implicationsThis study would help the marketers, government, local authorities and relevant stakeholders operating in dark tourism to formulate policies and strategies to better serve this niche tourism.Originality/valueThis research is the first-known attempt to reveal the uniqueness of tourists’ perception of value in dark tourism. It could significantly add to the literature and practice of dark tourism.

The influence of post-visit emotions on destination loyalty

“…Although the majority of studies describe positive emotions such as happiness, joy or anticipation (McCabe and Johnson, 2013;Hosany and Prayag, 2013), tourism activities can elicit negative emotions such as sadness, disgust and anger related to visiting tragedy places, observing poverty or taking part in dark tourism activities (Sharma and Nayak, 2019). The literature describes a strong influence of emotions on the general assessment of experiences, satisfaction and behavioral intentions (Prayag et al, 2013;Sthapit et al, 2019;Sharma and Nayak, 2019).…”

“…Positive and negative tourism experience can elicit positive and negative emotional states and even negative emotions could lead to positive outcomes in tourist behavior (Sharma and Nayak, 2019). The literature suggests that emotional states change over time and can be different before, during and after a trip (Nawijn and Biran, 2019).…”

“…The emotional association with destinations was described as one of the most critical factors influencing tourists' motivation, decision-making and post-visit behavioral intentions (Kwortnik and Ross, 2007;Pestana et al, 2019). Several studies suggest that external emotional stimuli might trigger emotional responses (Brosch et al, 2010), which lead to specific outcomes and behavioral intentions (Sharma and Nayak, 2019). The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of post-visit emotional stimuli on destination loyalty using an online experiment where emotional states are manipulated with positive and negative pictures, as opposed to a control group with no pictures.…”

Destination authentic value advantage: an SDL perspective

“…Destination authentic value advantage is one of the influential power to impact visitor loyalty behaviour (Thomas-Francois et al, 2017) lead to enhance destination congruence as proved in this study. Spending rationality may lead to a decition for seeking a variety in other destinations, but when a destination is capable of providing a kind of emotional value (Sharma & Nayak Jogendra, 2019), through its value authenticity, then decision to return of destination loyalty may happen.…”

“…More specifically, a destination's authenticity advantage, mirrored by sociocultural specifics, would directly impact visitors' decisions to return (Thomas-Francois, von Massow, & Joppe, 2017). As appeared in the study of Sharma and Nayak Jogendra (2019), if a destination attributes may enhance a kind of emotional value, such as coming from a level of authenticity in a destination leads to a feeling of satisfaction and loyalty. The economic rationale will lead tourists to maximise the money spent by visiting other new places, but if a visited destination can provide an emotional value advantage, then drive a tourist to echo the value it has experienced and leverage loyalty behavior.…”