These Were the Days of Our Lives! A Self-Enhancement Model of Revisit Intention for Warfare Heritage Tourism

Abstract

This paper addresses revisiting intention in warfare heritage tourism. Building on drivers related to the psychology of the tourists, it develops and tests a moderated mediation model accounting for self-enhancement, engagement, sense of belonging, and revisit intention. Two studies explore the relationships among these constructs, sampling tourists visiting contemporary warfare heritage sites (Cold War military installations). The results show that the sense of belonging mediates the self-enhancement–revisit intention relationship and that engagement moderates the mediation. Finally, results show that the relationships among the considered constructs do not change for tourists living in the former western or eastern blocks and for tourists born before, during, or after the Cold War era.