This study aims to identify significant factors that influence visitors’ experience in ethnic minority cultural festival and to examine the underlying relationship between attendees’ experience and their future behavioral intention. The study used an exploratory sequential mixed method combining qualitative and quantitative stages. A grounded theory approach was adopted in analyzing the qualitative data collected from 20 in-depth interviews with past festival attendees and 453 online review posts from social network platforms. The developed conceptual framework was empirically tested by a quantitative study of 276 additional festival attendees through intercept data collection. The results indicate that cultural contact determines festival attendees’ future behavioral intention, while visitor–environment fit, including facilities, environmental functions, and activity knowledge, influences attendees’ experience of cultural contact. The study provides a non-Western perspective regarding ethnic minority cultural festival experience.
AkhoondnejadA (2016) Tourist loyalty to a local cultural event: the case of Turkmen handicrafts festival. Tourism Management52: 468–477.
2.
AnderssonTDGetzDMykletunRJ (2013) Sustainable festival populations: an application of organizational ecology. Tourism Analysis18(6): 621–634.
3.
BaronRMKennyDA (1986) The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology51(6): 1173.
4.
BonnAMJoseph-MathewsSMDaiM, et al. (2007) Heritage/cultural attraction atmospherics: creating the right environment for the heritage/cultural visitor. Journal of Travel Research45(3): 345–354.
5.
BriksMMillsJ (2011) Grounded theory: a practical guide. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches28: 277–278.
6.
CaplanRD (1987) Person-environment fit theory and organizations: commensurate dimensions, time perspectives, and mechanisms. Journal of Vocational Behavior31(3): 248–267.
7.
CetinGBilgihanA (2016) Components of cultural tourists’ experiences in destinations. Current Issues in Tourism19(2): 137–154.
8.
ChangJ (2006) Segmenting tourists to aboriginal cultural festivals: an example in the Rukai tribal area, Taiwan. Tourism Management27(6): 1224–1234.
9.
ChenHRahmanI (2018) Cultural tourism: an analysis of engagement, cultural contact, memorable tourism experience and destination loyalty. Tourism Management Perspectives26: 153–163.
10.
ChinWW (1998) The Partial Least Squares Approach for Structural Equation Modeling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
11.
China National Bureau of Statistics (CNBS, 2011) The 6th national population census of the People’s Republic of China (2010). http://www.stats.gov.cn/ (accessed 8 December 2018).
12.
ChooHAhnKPetrickJF (2016) An integrated model of festival revisit intentions: theory of planned behavior and festival quality/satisfaction. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management28(4): 818–838.
13.
ChuangAShuwei HsuRWangAC, et al. (2015) Does west “fit” with east? In search of a Chinese model of person-environment fit. Academy of Management Journal58(2): 480–510.
14.
CreswellJW (2014) A Concise Introduction to Mixed Methods Research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
15.
CreswellJWPlano ClarkVL (2017) Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
16.
CromptonJLMcKaySL (1997) Motives of visitors attending festival events. Annals of Tourism Research24(2): 425–439.
17.
DavisA (2016) Experiential places or places of experience? Place identity and place attachment as mechanisms for creating festival environment. Tourism Management55: 49–61.
18.
EdwardsJRCaplanRDVan HarrisonR (1998) Person-environment fit theory. Theories of Organizational Stress28: 67.
19.
FrenchJRPJRodgersWCobbS (1974) Adjustment as person-environment fit. In: CoelhoGHamburgDAdamsJ (eds), Coping and Adaptation. New York, NY: Basic Books, pp. 316–333.
20.
GerbingDWAndersonJC (1988) An updated paradigm for scale development incorporating unidimensionality and its assessment. Journal of Marketing Research25(2): 186–192.
GiovanardiMLucarelliADecostaPLE (2014) Co-performing tourism places: the “Pink Night” festival. Annals of Tourism Research44(1): 102–115.
23.
GnothJZinsAH (2013) Developing a tourism cultural contact scale. Journal of Business Research66(6): 738–744.
24.
GrappiSMontanariF (2011) The role of social identification and hedonism in affecting tourist re-patronizing behaviours: the case of an Italian festival. Tourism Management32(5): 1128–1140.
25.
HairJFBlackWCBabinBJAndersonRE (2010) Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.
26.
HitchcockM (1999) Tourism and ethnicity: situational perspectives. International Journal of Tourism Research1(1): 17–32.
27.
JansenKJKristof-BrownA (2016) Toward a multidimensional theory of person-environment fit. Journal of Managerial Issues18(2): 193–212.
28.
KimSSPrideauxBChonK (2010a) A comparison of results of three statistical methods to understand the determinants of festival participants’ expenditures. International Journal of Hospitality Management29(2): 297–307.
29.
KimYHKimMRuetzlerT, et al. (2010b) An examination of festival attendees’ behavior using SEM. International Journal of Event and Festival Management1(1): 86–95.
30.
KristofAL (1996) Person-organization fit: an integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications. Personnel Psychology49(1): 1–49.
31.
LeeCKLeeYKWicksBE (2004) Segmentation of festival motivation by nationality and satisfaction. Tourism Management25(1): 61–70.
32.
LeeIArcodiaCLeeTJ (2012a) Benefits of visiting a multicultural festival: the case of South Korea. Tourism Management33(2): 334–340.
33.
LeeJ (Jiyeon)KyleGT (2014) Segmenting festival visitors using psychological commitment. Journal of Travel Research53(5): 656–669.
34.
LeeJKyleGScottD (2012b) The mediating effect of place attachment on the relationship between festival satisfaction and loyalty to the festival hosting destination. Journal of Travel Research51(6): 754–767.
35.
LeeYKLeeCKLeeSK, et al. (2008) Festivalscapes and patrons’ emotions, satisfaction, and loyalty. Journal of Business Research61(1): 56–64.
36.
LiangYWPengML (2019) The relationship between recreationist–environment fit and recreationist delight. Annals of Leisure Research22(1): 62–75.
37.
LitvinSPanBSmithW (2013) Festivals, special events, and the “rising tide.”International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research7(2): 163–168.
38.
Mafengwo (2018) Mafengwo BBS homepage. Available at: http://www.mafengwo.cn/(accessed 6 December 2018).
39.
MaruyamaNWoosnamKM (2015) Residents’ ethnic attitudes and support for ethnic neighborhood tourism: the case of a Brazilian town in Japan. Tourism Management50: 225–237.
40.
MaruyamaNWoosnamKMBoleyBB (2017) Residents’ attitudes toward ethnic neighborhood tourism (ENT): perspectives of ethnicity and empowerment. Tourism Geographies19(2): 265–286.
41.
MasonCNassiveraF (2013) A conceptualization of the relationships between quality, satisfaction, behavioral intention, and awareness of a festival. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management22(2): 162–182.
42.
MasonCPaggiaroA (2012) Investigating the role of festivalscape in culinary tourism: the case of food and wine events. Tourism Management33(6): 1329–1336.
43.
McIntoshRWGoeldnerCR (1990) Tourism Principles, Practices, Philosophies. New York, NY: Wiley.
44.
McKercherB (2002) Towards a classification of cultural tourists. International Journal of Tourism Research4(1): 29–38.
45.
McKercherBDu CrosH (2002) Cultural Tourism: The Partnership Between Tourism and Cultural Heritage Management. Abingdon: Routledge.
46.
MorganM (2008) Festival Spaces and the Tourism Experience. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 1–17.
47.
MorganM (2009) What makes a good festival? Understanding the event experience. Event Management12(2): 81–93.
48.
MoscardoGPearcePL (1999) Understanding ethnic tourists. Annals of Tourism Research26(2): 416–434.
49.
ReisingerY (1994) Tourist—host contact as a part of cultural tourism. World Leisure & Recreation36(2): 24–28.
50.
ReisingerYTurnerL (1998) Cultural differences between Mandarin-speaking tourists and Australian hosts and their impact on cross-cultural tourist-host interaction. Journal of Business Research42(2): 175–187.
51.
RichardsG (2018) Cultural tourism: a review of recent research and trends. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management36: 12–21.
52.
SantosCAYanG (2008) Representational politics in Chinatown: the ethnic other. Annals of Tourism Research35(4): 879–899.
53.
SavinovicAKimSLongP (2012) Audience members’ motivation, satisfaction, and intention to re-visit an ethnic minority cultural festival. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing29(7): 682–694.
54.
SchofieldPThompsonK (2007) Visitor motivation, satisfaction and behavioural intention: the 2005 Naadam Festival, Ulaanbaatar. International Journal of Tourism Research9(5): 329–344.
55.
ThyneMWatkinsLYoshidaM (2018) Resident perceptions of tourism: the role of social distance. International Journal of Tourism Research20(2): 256–266.
56.
TsaurSHLiangYWLinWR (2012) Conceptualization and measurement of the recreationist-environment fit. Journal of Leisure Research44(1): 110–130.
57.
TsaurSHLiangYWWengSC (2014) Recreationist-environment fit and place attachment. Journal of Environmental Psychology40: 421–429.
58.
Van VianenAEM (2017) A review of person—environment fit research: prospects for personnel selection. In: EversAAndersonNVoskuijlO (eds) The Blackwell Handbook of Personnel Selection. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, pp. 419–439.
59.
van VianenAE (2018) Person–environment fit: a review of its basic tenets. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior5: 75–101.
60.
WenZHauKTChangL (2005) A comparison of moderator and mediator and their applications. Acta Psychologica Sinica37(02): 268–274.
61.
WilsonJArshedNShawE, et al. (2017) Expanding the domain of festival research: a review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews19(2): 195–213.
62.
WoosnamKM (2012) Using emotional solidarity to explain residents’ attitudes about tourism and tourism development. Journal of Travel Research51(3): 315–327.
63.
WoosnamKMMaruyamaNURibeiroMA, et al. (2019) Explaining minority residents’ attitudes of ethnic enclave tourism from general perceptions of tourism impacts. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change17(4): 467–484.
64.
YangJGuYCenJ (2011) Festival tourists’ emotion, perceived value, and behavioral intentions: a test of the moderating effect of festivalscape. Journal of Convention and Event Tourism12(1): 25–44.
65.
YangL (2011) Ethnic tourism and cultural representation. Annals of Tourism Research38(2): 561–585.
66.
YangLWallGSmithSLJ (2008) Ethnic tourism development: Chinese government perspectives. Annals of Tourism Research35(3): 751–771.
67.
YilmazSSTasciAD (2015) Circumstantial impact of contact on social distance. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change13(2): 115–131.
