문화유산관광에서의 진정성이 관광자의 만족도와 충성도에 미치는 영향 -하회마을을 대상으로-

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The Effect of Authenticity in Cultural Heritage Tourism on Tourist's Satisfaction and Loyalty

- Focused on Hahoe Village -

Eunkyung Park Department of Tourism Management The Graduate School of Jeju National University

Following the expansion of mass tourism witnessed in recent decades, it does not seem excessive to say that cultural tourism is now becoming mainstream. Cultural tourism concerns the desire to experience a variety of man-made items, distinctive of past and present periods, at the tourist destination. Cultural heritage tourism is an aspect of cultural tourism in which the inherited culture of the past is involved. In recent years, cultural heritage tourism has gained increasing attention, and has generated a growing body of literature. An important attribute of cultural heritage tourism is authenticity, or at least the perception of it. Authenticity is acknowledged as a universal value and an essential driving force that motivates tourists to travel to distant places and experience different times. Present-day authenticity pays homage to an "original" authenticity, and the quest for authentic experiences is considered one of the key trends in tourism. In cultural heritage tourism, authenticity has thus been identified as a future key driver for tourism. However, the characteristics of cultural heritage tourism have undergone change since the seventeenth century, based on the changing relationship between tourism and culture. Cultural heritage tourism can be explained as a consequence of wider social and economic trends which mark the periods of 'late modernism' or 'postmodernism.' A central aspect of the culture of modernity is the quest for authentic experience. Why, though, does authenticity play such an important role in cultural heritage tourism? Many scholars believe that the quality of cultural heritage tourism is enhanced by authenticity. The authenticity of tourism destinations, sites, events, cultures, and experiences is of concern to practitioners and researchers involved in the planning, marketing, and management of heritage and cultural tourism. In this research, we address authenticity under three dimensions ? the objective (real), the constructed (sociopolitical), and the personal (phenomenological) ? and via two aspects that contextualize authenticity: space and time. This study focuses on the role of authenticity in cultural heritage tourism. A key purpose of the study is to examine the relationships between authenticity, satisfaction, and loyalty in cultural heritage tourism. Much research, mostly qualitative, has been done in this field. Thus, the particular purpose of this study is to find out how authenticity in cultural heritage tourism affects tourist satisfaction and loyalty toward a tourist attraction. The study focuses on the relationships between authenticity, satisfaction, and loyalty. Tourists can be loyal at each phase relating to different elements of the attitude development structure. At each loyalty stage, different factors influencing loyalty can be detected. The study also investigates perceptions of specific authenticity (such as objective authenticity, constructive authenticity, and existential authenticity) and loyalty (such as cognitive loyalty, affective loyalty, and conative loyalty). The research questions, which could also be relevant to the authenticity of cultural attractions, are: (1) What is the authenticity that tourists perceive in cultural heritage tourism? (2) What is the relationship among the dimensions of authenticity? (3) What is the influence of authenticity on the tourist's satisfaction and loyalty? The paper argues for a theoretical and practically useful framework to guide research and practice. As an empirical object of study, the chosen research site comprises the visitors who come to experience the cultural heritage of Korea, with a specific focus on a village located in Andong area. Hahoe village is one of the important crossroads of history and culture in South Korea. It was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1997 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the grounds of being an outstanding example of authenticity. The research survey for the study was conducted among tourists who visited Hahoe village. A feasibility study involved a survey of local residents and tourists who visited the village July 21-22, 2012. After a pilot test, questionnaires were filled by 593 tourists who visited Hahoe village during the period from September 30 to October 7, 2012. A total of 535 questionnaires were completed, providing a substantial set of data to be analyzed. Collected data were analyzed using the statistics packages SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 18.0. Frequency analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation model (SEM) analysis were performed and additional multiple regression analyses were also conducted. In sum, the results revealed that constructive authenticity of object-related authenticity significantly influenced existential authenticity as an activity-related authenticity, with the exception of objective authenticity. The different dimensions of authenticity statistically affected each other, with constructive authenticity and existential authenticity having a significant direct effect on satisfaction, but not objective authenticity. Furthermore, the effect of constructive authenticity in cultural heritage tourism on tourists' satisfaction was stronger than the other dimensions of authenticity. In addition, only existential authenticity directly affected tourists' cognitive loyalty, according to a qualitative appraisal of tourist attractions with certain attributes. Satisfaction had a direct and significant effect on cognitive loyalty and affective loyalty, but not on conative loyalty. Lastly, cognitive loyalty had a direct and significant effect on affective loyalty but not conative loyalty, and affective loyalty directly influenced conative loyalty. There is empirical evidence that tourist satisfaction after experiencing constructive and existential authenticity is a strong indicator of their intentions to revisit and recommend the destination to other people. Satisfied tourists with the perception of existential authenticity are more likely to return to the same destination, and are more willing to share their positive traveling experience with their friends and relatives. Positive word-of-mouth recommendations are especially critical in tourism marketing because they are considered to be the most reliable, and thus are one of the most sought-after information sources for potential tourists. Loyalty is a key outcome of consumer decision-making in the services sector, and thus the importance of loyalty is evident. In particular, constructive authenticity plays not only a key role in tourist satisfaction and loyalty but also has the power to influence existential authenticity in cultural heritage tourism. Authenticity in cultural heritage tourism is an essential element of national and regional representation with the potential and the symbolic foundations upon which a sense of belonging is based. This means that cultural capital plays an important role in determining heritage and the demand for authenticity. Cultural capital, acquired and inherited, was found to be an important factor to consider in the demand for cultural heritage tourism. This thesis emphasizes the importance of authenticity in cultural heritage tourism and its multiple dimensions in authenticity seeking. Authenticity is accordingly crucially important for tourism, especially cultural heritage tourism. Because of that, the concept of authenticity is of particular interest in the marketing of cultural heritage sites. It is helpful for understanding tourist satisfaction and behavior as well as for its strategic and tactical implications concerning tourist destination management.