黑色旅游地游客动机对目的地形象的影响研究——以北川地震遗址区为例

Effect of Tourist Motivation on Destination Image with a Dark Tourism Site:Case Study of the Beichuan Earthquake Memorial Site, China

黑色旅游已逐渐成为广义休闲旅游谱系中的一个颇受关注的组成部分,但关于黑色旅游动机和目的地形象之间影响关系的研究却相对缺乏。文章以北川地震遗址区为案例,运用结构方程模型对黑色旅游地游客动机和目的地形象的结构特征及其内部影响关系进行了分析。研究发现,黑色旅游动机对目的地形象产生重要影响,其中"娱乐与自我发展"动机显著正向影响整体形象",公益与教育启迪"动机显著正向影响认知形象、情感形象和整体形象,而"见证与灾区探寻"动机显著正向影响认知形象,并显著负向影响整体形象。同时,认知形象显著正向影响情感形象,情感形象显著正向影响整体形象,情感形象在认知形象对整体形象的影响中存在完全中介效应。由此可知,"情感"是黑色旅游目的地形象内部演化的关键内核。

Dark tourism, which has such tourist"appeal"as disaster, death, and tragedy, has become a kind of leisure activity in modern society. Today, increasing numbers of scholars have turned their attention to dark tourism. A considerable amount of research has focused on the behavior characteristics associated with dark tourism, such as tourist motivation, tourist experience, and intrapersonal constraints. However, few researchers have studied the relationship between tourist motivation and destination image with respect to dark tourism sites. Accordingly, the present study examines the effect of dark tourists’ motivation regarding destination image. This study examined the Beichuan Earthquake Memorial Site in Sichuan Province, which is one of the most important memorial museums associated with the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake and a typical dark tourism destination in China.This study adopted a questionnaire approach. In May 2014, a questionnaire survey was conducted at the Beichuan Earthquake Memorial Site. In all, 469 valid questionnaires were collected at that site.The data were analyzed using SPSS 19.0 and Amos 17.0 software. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the underlying dimensions of tourist motivation and destination image with regard to the dark tourism site. The findings showed that the motivation related to dark tourism covered mainly three dimensions: entertainment and self-development;public welfare and education;and witnessing and exploring the disaster area. Further analysis indicated that elements of pathos were a remarkable feature of the tourists’ motivation with the dark tourism site.After a structural equation model test was undertaken, the following results were obtained.(1)With regard to destination image, the cognitive image exerted a significant influence on the affective image;the affective image had a significant influence on the overall image;however, the influence of the cognitive image on the overall image was not significant. In addition, the affective image played a completely mediating role in the relationship between the cognitive image and the overall image.(2)Tourism motivation was an important factor in influencing the destination image. All the indicated three dimensions of dark tourism motivation influenced the destination image. Among them, the motivation for entertainment and self-development exerted a positive significant effect on the overall image;public welfare and education had a positive significant effect on the cognitive image, the affective image, and the overall image;witnessing and exploring the disaster area had a positive significant effect on the cognitive image, but it had a negative significant effect on the overall image. Based on these findings, a discussion with reference to the literature is provided.This paper analyzed the effect of tourist motivation on destination image with respect to a dark tourism site. It is hoped that this study can enrich the theoretical connotations of dark tourism and provide some references for the development and management of dark tourism sites.