Influence of Sustainable Development by Tourists’ Place Emotion: Analysis of the Multiply Mediating Effect of Attitude

Tourists' emotional connection to place significantly drives their behavioral intentions more strongly than attitudes, subjective norms, or perceived behavior control when visiting rural World Heritage Sites like Xidi and Hongcun. This finding emerges from a study combining planning behavior theory with goal-oriented models, using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze tourist behavior in these UNESCO-listed villages. The research reveals that place emotion exerts the strongest indirect effect on sustainable tourism development, followed by subjective norms and perceived behavior control, with attitudes acting as a partial mediator. These insights provide actionable guidance for balancing tourism growth with cultural preservation in heritage contexts.

Zhang, Y., & Wang, L. (2019). Influence of Sustainable Development by Tourists’ Place Emotion: Analysis of the Multiply Mediating Effect of Attitude. Sustainability, 11(5), 1384. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051384