Search results

This chapter provides an overview of research on authenticity in tourism studies focusing on the development of the field and noting four main strands: objective, constructive, postmodern, and experiential. Underlying the various approaches to authenticity are distinct authentication processes with more recent work arguing for a move away from an authentic/inauthentic dichotomy toward an emphasis on the social construction of authenticity, and associated questions of power, production and performativity.

Discussion around authenticity has grown in marketing and consumption discourse in the last two decades. Consumers are viewed as seeking authenticity, and brands have responded to this. This chapter identifies three foundational categories of authenticity: personal, expressive and material. The main elements of each category are outlined. Key tensions are identified between authenticity as experienced by consumers and authenticity as leveraged for instrumental purposes by the marketplace.

This chapter starts by defining authenticity and then addressing the role that the concept has played in political communication research. It then examines authenticity as an issue in conventional politics before discussing more recent engagements with the concept, notably with regard to campaigns, populism and voting preferences.

An increasing number of immersive technologies have been adopted in museum tourism in response to shifting consumer habits in the digital era. In contrast, the authenticity experience of museum tourists relies on genuine relics, the environment and activities, which are ancient or traditional. This raises the question of whether tourists can perceive authenticity in immersive technology-based museum tourism. To address this question, this study aims to explore the impact of virtual reality (VR) attributes on tourists’ presence, tourism authenticity and subsequent behavioral intentions in virtual museums.

Data were collected via scenario-based surveys of participants who had taken virtual museum tours based on VR. A total of 174 effective questionnaires were collected for exploratory factor analysis via SPSS 25. Afterward, 597 questionnaires were obtained for confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis via Mplus 7.4.

A conceptual model of how VR attributes influence presence, authenticity and visit intention was developed. There is a chain intermediary between presence and visit intentions, from original authenticity to interactive authenticity and then to emotional authenticity. Technology readiness and museum familiarity moderate some relationships between VR attributes and presence.

The findings can guide museums in improving the use of VR. For example, managers can improve the quality of virtual systems and adopt various interactive forms to enhance tourists’ participation experiences.

These research findings contribute to the research area of immersive technology adoption, enhance the understanding of tourism authenticity in the new context of technology application and extend the presence-emotion-intention theory.

Authenticity has been studied from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, leading to a rich but confused literature. This study, a review, aims to compare the psychology and sociology/tourism definitions of authenticity to clarify the concept. From a psychological perspective, authenticity is a mental appraisal of an object or experience as valued leading to feelings and summative judgements (such as satisfaction or perceived value). In objective authenticity, a person values the object due to belief in an expert’s opinion, constructive authenticity relies on socially constructed values, while existential authenticity is based on one’s self-identity. The resultant achievement of a valued goal, such as seeing a valued object, leads to feelings of pleasure. Sociological definitions are similar but based on different theoretical antecedent causes of constructed and existential authenticity. The paper further discusses the use of theory in tourism and the project to develop tourism as a discipline. This project is considered unlikely to be successful and in turn, as argued, it is more useful to apply theory from other disciplines in a multidisciplinary manner. The results emphasise that it is necessary for tourism researchers to understand the origins and development of the concepts they use and their various definitions.

This tourism study delves into the universal impact of authenticity on tourists' preferences. This study aims to enhance understanding and present a model delineating authenticity's intricate relationship with behavioral intention, involvement and nostalgia.

The research entails administering a sample survey to travelers located in the departure lounge of Macau International Airport. Ultimately, 499 fully completed questionnaires are obtained through convenience sampling. The analysis of the collected data incorporates an innovative method, using a quadratic model.

Results undeniably validate that a destination's perceived authenticity significantly influences tourists' intentions, engagement and nostalgic sentiments. Findings strongly support the assertion that this authenticity demonstrates a nonlinear pattern in its association with behavioral intention, involvement and nostalgia.

Through quantitative analysis and interpretation, this study has advanced the comprehension of the interplay between authenticity and tourism. It introduces a novel perspective that adds depth to the broader understanding in this domain. This foundational research is crucial for acknowledging the unique contributions made by this study to the fields of tourism and authenticity.

这项旅游研究深入探讨了真实性对游客偏好的普遍影响。它旨在增强理解并提出一个模型来描述真实性与行为意图、参与和怀旧之间的复杂关系。

该研究需要对位于澳门国际机场候机室的旅客进行抽样调查。最终通过便利抽样获得完整填写的问卷499份。对收集的数据的分析采用了一种创新方法, 利用二次方模型。

结果无可否认地证实, 目的地的感知真实性会显着影响游客的意图、参与度和怀旧情绪。研究结果有力地支持了这一主张, 即这种真实性在其与行为意图、参与和怀旧的关联中表现出一种非线性模式。

通过定量分析和解释, 这项研究增进了我们对真实性与旅游之间的回应的理解。它引入了一种新颖的视角, 加深了我们对这一领域更广泛的理解。这一基础研究为承认本研究对旅游和真实性领域做出了独特贡献。

Este estudio turístico profundiza en el impacto universal de la autenticidad en las preferencias de los turistas. Pretende mejorar la comprensión y presentar un modelo que delinee la intrincada relación de la autenticidad con la intención conductual, la implicación y la nostalgia.

La investigación consistió en administrar una encuesta por muestreo a los viajeros situados en la sala de embarque del Aeropuerto Internacional de Macao. Finalmente, se obtuvieron 499 cuestionarios totalmente cumplimentados mediante un muestreo de conveniencia. El análisis de los datos recogidos incorpora un método innovador, utilizando un modelo cuadrático.

Los resultados validan sin lugar a duda que la autenticidad percibida de un destino influye significativamente en las intenciones, la implicación y los sentimientos nostálgicos de los turistas. Los hallazgos apoyan firmemente la afirmación de que esta autenticidad demuestra un patrón no lineal en su asociación con la intención conductual, la implicación y la nostalgia.

Mediante el análisis cuantitativo y la interpretación, este estudio ha hecho avanzar nuestra comprensión de la interacción entre autenticidad y turismo. Introduce una perspectiva novedosa que añade profundidad a nuestra comprensión más amplia en este ámbito. Esta investigación fundacional es crucial para reconocer las contribuciones únicas de este estudio a los campos del turismo y la autenticidad.

This study aims to develop a robust theoretical framework to explain the impact of hotels’ green brand authenticity on guests’ perceptions of well-being, customer engagement and approach behaviors toward green brands.

In this study, the authors examined the effect of green brand authenticity on perceptions of well-being, customer engagement and approach behaviors toward green brands. For the quantitative empirical analysis, 352 samples were used. Green brand authenticity integrates quality commitment, heritage, uniqueness and symbolism as high-dimensional factors.

The study conceptualizes green brand authenticity as a multi-dimensional phenomenon with four dimensions: quality commitment, heritage, uniqueness and symbolism. The results showed that green brand authenticity has a positive effect on hotel guests’ perceived well-being and behavioral intentions. Interestingly, environmental values did not have a statistically significant regulatory role, while green behavior in everyday life had a partial regulatory role.

This study aims to develop and empirically test a conceptual model that depicts the function of green authenticity in explaining customer responses to green brands. The results and the theoretical framework proposed in this study provide significant insights for researchers and practitioners in the hotel industry.

Further than evaluating brand authenticity generally, this study evaluates the authenticity of a brand's environmental protection efforts. As a result of the empirical analysis conducted in this study, the green brand authenticity of a hotel had a positive effect on customers’ emotional and behavioral aspects. This finding provided valuable and meaningful insights for green hotels and hotel brand-related research.

Drawing on person–environment fit theory, this study aims to investigate how the relationships between service task types (i.e. utilitarian and hedonic service tasks) and perceived authenticity (i.e. service and brand authenticity) differ under different conditions of service providers (human employee vs service robot). This study further examines whether customers’ stereotypes toward service robots (competence vs warmth) moderate the relationship between service types and perceived authenticity.

Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design, Study 1 examines a casual restaurant, whereas Study 2 assesses a theme park restaurant. Analysis of covariance and PROCESS are used to analyze the data.

Both studies reveal that human service providers in hedonic services positively affect service and brand authenticity more than robotic employees. Additionally, the robot competence stereotype moderates the relationship between hedonic services, service and brand authenticity, whereas the robot warmth stereotype moderates the relationship between hedonic services and brand authenticity in Study 2.

Restaurant managers need to understand which functions and types of service outlets are best suited for service robots in different service contexts. Robot–environment fit should be considered when developers design and managers select robots for their restaurants.

This study blazes a new theoretical trail of service robot research to systematically propose customer experiences with different service types by drawing upon person–environment fit theory and examining the moderating role of customers’ stereotypes toward service robots.