Examining Structural Relationships among Night Tourism Experience, Lovemarks, Brand Satisfaction, and Brand Loyalty on “Cultural Heritage Night” in South Korea

Nan Chen, Yahui Wang, Jiaqi Li, Yuqian Wei and Qing Yuan
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Nan Chen: Research Institute for Study Travel, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
Yahui Wang: School of Cultural Industry & Tourism Management, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
Jiaqi Li: Department of Leisure Service & Sports, Pai Chai University, Daejeon 35345, Korea
Yuqian Wei: Department of Leisure Service & Sports, Pai Chai University, Daejeon 35345, Korea
Qing Yuan: Research Institute for Study Travel, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-23

Abstract: The night-time economy is an important part of the urban economy and contributes significantly to modern cities’ GDP. The development of night tourism is one of the crucial means to enrich and prosper the night-time economy. Recently, as a popular topic of sustainable development, night tourism has received extensive attention. However, little attention has been paid to night tourism, especially from the emotional perspective of tourists. Furthermore, discussions on how and why tourists become interested in night tourism are still lacking. To fill the research gap, based on the theory of experience economy, we used the concept of lovemarks to explore the influence of tourists’ tourism experience and lovemarks on their brand satisfaction and brand loyalty. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 487 tourists of “Cultural Heritage Night”, a night tourism brand in South Korea. The results indicate that tourists’ entertainment and educational experience significantly influence their lovemarks (both of brand love and respect), and esthetic experience only significantly influences brand respect. Furthermore, the influence of tourists’ lovemarks on brand satisfaction and loyalty is also validated. To retain the sustainable development of night-time economy and night tourism, local authorities and destination managers are recommended to provide night tourism brands (products) with optimal experience effects and entirely emotional and functional attributes.

Keywords: tourism experience; lovemarks; brand satisfaction; brand loyalty; “Cultural Heritage Night”; structural equation model; South Korea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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