Abstract
Agricultural heritage sites, as complex cultural–ecological systems, coordinate diverse stakeholder interests through value co-creation to promote ecological products, sustainable tourism development, and economic value creation. However, outdated management practices and the lack of a supportive co-creation environment have long hindered dynamic development. This study examines the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage site, applying the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) theory to construct a model of the spillover effects of value co-creation on tourists’ consumption intention. It further explores the mediating role of consumption intention in this process. A total of 497 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed using AMOS 27.0 and SPSS 27.0. The empirical results demonstrate that value co-creation enhances tourists’ consumption intention and produces positive spillover effects. Specifically, social, experiential, and cultural values generated through value co-creation positively influence tourists’ consumption intention, as well as related spillover effects such as increased social trust, stronger place identity, and higher repeat visits. Furthermore, consumption intention mediates the relationship between value co-creation and its spillover effects. This study introduces the concept of value co-creation into the context of agricultural cultural heritage tourism, enriching the theoretical understanding of the mediating role of consumption intention. It also extends research on the relationship between value co-creation and tourist behavior, and broadens the study of associated spillover effects. At a practical level, the study offers strategies for integrating agricultural cultural heritage tourism and enhancing the co-creation capacities of multiple stakeholders.
Keywords
Introduction
The integration of agriculture and culture with tourism has emerged as a potential pathway for the preservation of cultural heritage and environmental resources (Luo & Liu, 2024). The sustainable development of tourism in agricultural cultural heritage sites and the enhancement of ecosystem vitality require not only policy support but also a focus on the experiential aspects of consumer behavior. Emphasizing the alignment of interests and emotional solidarity between hosts and guests is essential for fostering participatory value co-creation (Lan et al., 2021). The generation of consumer behavior following co-creation of single-trip value by tourists does not signify the completion of the stakeholder relationship development. Conversely, the destination’s capacity to utilize tourist feedback to refine products and services, enhance visitor loyalty, and foster more positive post-visit spillover behaviors to encourage repeated co-creation activities constitutes a critical area for in-depth investigation in tourism development. Establishing a sustainable positive feedback loop is essential for ongoing destination growth and stakeholder engagement. A satisfactory consumer experience and purchasing behavior are considered prerequisites for positive post-visit behaviors (Chen et al., 2022); when tourists develop favorable psychological dispositions during interactive tourism experiences, they tend to exhibit increased loyalty and engage positive actions (Monteiro et al., 2023). Some scholars have investigated the interactive consumer experiences that arise from value co-creation and their subsequent impact on tourism spillover behaviors, which include aspects such as visitor consumption experiences, loyalty, satisfaction, and their likelihood to recommend or revisit (Dang & Nguyen, 2023). While there is a clear need for the development of agricultural cultural heritage sites, it is crucial to recognize that not all such sites can be developed sustainably. Improper design of value co-creation in agricultural cultural heritage sites may yield negative outcomes, leading to value degradation and adverse spillover effects (Järvi et al., 2020). Therefore, exploring the driving factors and underlying mechanisms of positive post-visit spillover effects among tourists at agricultural cultural heritage sites, as well as how to deepen the construction of value co-creation environments, is crucial for the sustainable development of heritage tourism. This study examines the positive post-visit spillover effects of tourists at agricultural cultural heritage sites, with a focus on effective strategies and measures to promote value co-creation between hosts and guests. Value co-creation is a primary catalyst for consumer loyalty and satisfaction (Lopes et al., 2024). A satisfying experiential consumption process is vital for generating positive spillover behaviors among consumers. This research investigates the correlation between value co-creation at agricultural cultural heritage sites and tourists’ positive spillover effects, emphasizing the influence of consumption intention.
This study selects the Anxi Tieguanyin Cultural Heritage Site as the research object to analyze the relationship between value co-creation and post-visit spillover behaviors. The Anxi Tieguanyin tea cultural system is the only tea-based entry among China’s globally significant agricultural heritage sites (FAO-GIAHS, 2022) and serves as a representative example of the Global Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Its conservation and utilization model offer valuable insights for other agricultural cultural heritage preservation efforts. The Anxi Tieguanyin Cultural Heritage Site features a comprehensive value chain encompassing ecological cultivation, intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship, and integrated tea tourism. The “tea estate” model integrates production, experiential activities, and consumption, attracting visitors through the “cultural heritage” branding. Traditional tea processing demonstrations and experiential activities enhance visitor engagement and cultural cognition, fostering participation and knowledge transfer. The tea cultural heritage site of Anxi Tieguanyin is actively promoting the integration of culture and tourism to enhance economic development. However, the region faces challenges, such as insufficient publicity for ecotourism and the need for deeper tourism interaction in certain agricultural cultural heritage sites. The Anxi Tieguanyin Cultural Heritage Site faces similar challenges to other agriculturally-based cultural heritage sites with development restrictions, as both possess tourism resources but lack effective mechanisms for co-creating intrinsic visitor value and promoting proactive post-visit spillover behaviors. This study uses the Anxi Tieguanyin Cultural Heritage Site as a representative case, providing an in-depth analysis of the site’s issues to develop strategic recommendations that can serve as a reference for other agriculturally-oriented cultural heritage sites facing tourism development constraints.
Post-travel behavior refers to the spillover actions of tourists that arise from their consumption experiences during travel (Mou et al., 2023). Investigating these post-travel spillover behaviors can help scholars optimize destination management based on tourist needs. Currently, the majority of research on tourism behavior focuses on pre-travel decision-making and experiences during the travel process, while studies specifically addressing post-travel behaviors remain relatively scarce. Furthermore, there is a notable lack of integrative discussions that encompass behaviors across the pre-, during, and post-travel phases. Most research on post-travel behavior pertains to aspects such as post-trip evaluations (e.g., word-of-mouth), loyalty (e.g., revisit intentions), and behavioral intentions (e.g., environmental consciousness; Mou et al., 2023). The driving factors behind post-travel behavior primarily include emotions, memories, and social interactions (Kim et al., 2022; Stylidis et al., 2022; L. Wang & Li, 2023). Additionally, there is a significant gap in the systematic exploration of how value co-creation and consumer willingness in the tourism sector influence post-travel behaviors.
Value co-creation is viewed as a proactive, creative, and social process in which stakeholders work together to generate mutual benefits and value. Much of the previous research on value co-creation has focused on the cooperative behaviors of the parties involved in the process (Song et al., 2022). Many scholars have also looked at the interactions and resource exchange behaviors as indicators for assessing value co-creation. However, less attention has been paid to the “co-created value” that emerges from this process. This paper seeks to explore “co-created value” as a key dimension of value co-creation, contributing to the expansion of existing research in this field. In the study of tourism value co-creation, scholars have extensively discussed the driving factors and subsequent outcomes of this phenomenon. The influencing factors of value co-creation encompass elements related to tourists, interpersonal relationships, and destination characteristics, specifically including personal motivations, perceived benefits, social interactions, and social responsibility. The impact of value co-creation manifests differently for tourists and destinations, influencing aspects such as tourist perceptions, behaviors, and the destination image (Song et al., 2022). Some scholars argue that value co-creation can generate spillover effects, whereby the simultaneous co-creation between hosts and guests continuously exerts potential spillover impacts on specific behaviors as well as on other behaviors beyond that (Finsterwalder & Kuppelwieser, 2020). Currently, research within the tourism domain predominantly concentrates on spillover effects arising from dialogic interaction (X. Zheng & Fu, 2024), affective bonding (Amir et al., 2025), and collaborative development (Cornelisse & van Klink, 2025). Overall, there is a relative paucity of studies examining the mechanisms by which existing behavioral factors influence tourist consumption behaviors and positive post-visit spillover effects from a behavioral perspective. Existing literature indicates that post-visit behavioral decision-making is influenced by prior tourism experiences (Muhammad et al., 2025). For instance, participation behavior (F. Xu et al., 2021) and transparent communication (Lopes et al., 2024) are established interaction factors that can impact subsequent tourist loyalty behaviors, thereby generating behavioral spillover effects. If the positive spillover of co-created value between tourists and tourism destinations into post-visit behaviors can be achieved, it would hold significant practical implications for the sustainable development of tourism industry.
Tourism consumption intention refers to the psychological inclination of tourists to engage in consumption following a satisfying interactive experience (Guan et al., 2024). This inclination further influences tourist loyalty (L. Wang & Li, 2023). While some researchers have conducted comprehensive studies on the impact of value co-creation on consumption intention, there is relatively little research on this topic within the tourism sector. Additionally, there is a lack of clarity regarding how value co-creation continues to influence post-visit spillover behaviors after affecting consumption intention. Clarifying this relationship is beneficial for destination management entities in optimizing service quality, maintaining positive host-guest relationships, and promoting a sustainable cycle of local tourism development.
The spillover effect refers to the phenomenon where specific behaviors in one domain enhance or inhibit other behaviors within that domain (Dolan & Galizzi, 2015; Susewind & Hoelzl, 2014). The investigation of the subsequent impacts of tourism value co-creation aligns with this definition of spillover effects. Understanding the relationship between consumption intention, value co-creation, and post-tour behaviors will enrich research on the spillover effects of tourism value co-creation.
Most research on value co-creation predominantly focuses on its antecedents, processes, and outcomes, with an emphasis on the mechanisms underlying its formation, while empirical investigations into its resultant effects remain limited. Some studies posit that value co-creation can generate positive spillover effects, such as enhancing tourist loyalty, promoting destination image dissemination, and achieving sustainable community benefits (John & Supramaniam, 2024). Conversely, other research suggests that these impacts are contingent upon the type of co-creative behaviors or the activated value dimensions, indicating that not all forms of collaboration uniformly produce beneficial outcomes and that value co-destruction may also occur (Järvi et al., 2020). Furthermore, the spillover effects are primarily examined at the institutional or community level—such as destination branding, economic development, or social cohesion—while explorations at the individual level are comparatively scarce. Extensive research indicates that tourist engagement in interactive experiences exerts a positive influence on destination branding and tourism development (John & Supramaniam, 2024). For visitors who actively participate in experiential interactions, satisfaction during the process can inform their consumption decision-making and strengthen emotional bonds with the destination, thereby promoting repeat visitation and loyalty (Amir et al., 2025). Previous studies predominantly treat post-visit behavioral intentions and experiential outcomes as secondary results, focusing on the impact of co-creation of value between tourists and hosts, without thoroughly examining the complexity of their interrelationships. Moreover, the dimensional conceptualization of co-creation of value in tourism contexts often emphasizes manifestations such as tourist participation and civic behaviors, with limited empirical exploration of co-creation value dimensions post-interaction. Analyzing the underlying mechanisms can elucidate how value co-creation generates enduring externalities at both individual and systemic levels, thereby informing the development of sustainable, inclusive, and resilient co-creation strategies embedded within destination management frameworks.
In summary, this paper constructs a relational model between the co-creation of value at agricultural cultural heritage sites and the spillover effects on tourism, based on the spillover effect and the S-O-R theory. It analyzes the role of consumer willingness in this process. The aim is to theoretically enrich research on optimizing visitor behavior related to agricultural cultural heritage sites and provide practical insights for the marketing and management of these sites.
Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses Development
The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory posits that the service environment can influence consumers’ internal cognitive, affective, and emotional states, thereby leading them to exhibit tendencies toward approach or avoidance behaviors (Bitner, 1992). This theoretical framework has been extensively applied in the study of the influence of tourism service environments on tourist behavior. For instance, researchers have employed the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model to analyze eco-tourists’ behavioral responses, demonstrating that tourist engagement—comprising enthusiasm and interaction—significantly impacts memorable tourism experiences (MTE). These experiences, in turn, shape subsequent behavioral intentions such as revisit willingness, recommendation propensity, and tourist prioritization (Amir et al., 2025). In this context, enthusiasm and interaction serve as external stimuli that, through experiential mediation, elicit emotional responses that promote sustainable tourism behaviors. Some scholars have applied the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) framework to the context of festival tourism, where perceived authenticity and experiential quality serve as stimuli that influence tourists’ emotional responses, perceived value, and satisfaction (Organism), subsequently affecting loyalty (Response) (N. Zhu et al., 2025). Several studies on co-creation of tourism value have validated the applicability of the S-O-R model and extended its scope to encompass tourists’ sustainable behaviors. S. Wang et al. (2024) conceptualized co-creation of experience and emotional solidarity as stimuli, with satisfaction with the travel experience representing the organism, and environmentally responsible behavior as the resultant response. Although the S-O-R theory possesses broad applicability, the integration of value co-creation within the S-O-R framework remains insufficiently explored, particularly concerning its mediating role in consumer intention (O) and its influence on post-travel positive spillover behaviors (R). This study aims to expand on this aspect.
Value Co-creation and Tourists’ Consumption Intention
Some scholars argue that tourism value co-creation refers to the process by which tourists interact with activities or individuals at the destination during their travel experience. This involves participation in tourism activities organized by tourism enterprises, interactions between tourists and local residents or fellow travelers, and encompasses both experience value co-creation and social value co-creation (Heinonen et al., 2010). Vargo and Lusch (2004) define value co-creation as the value generated through collaborative interaction between consumers and businesses, resulting in co-created value. This co-created value is the perceived or customer value collectively created through interactive behavior with other involved parties. Some scholars directly consider the co-created value generated from value co-creation as a dimension of value co-creation. Zhang et al. (2022) categorized value co-creation into user value creation and enterprise value creation based on the different roles played by the involved parties. In this framework, users gain emotional (Sweeney & Soutar, 2001), social (H. C. Wu & Li, 2017), and functional value through emotional interaction, cognitive interaction, and behavioral interaction with the enterprise, while the enterprise acquires knowledge, user needs, improvement solutions, and sustainable resources through information interaction with users (Y. Zhang et al., 2022). The essence of value co-creation lies in businesses collectively creating experiential value for consumers through interactions (John & Supramaniam, 2024).
Ajzen and Fishbein (1977) posited that intention is the subjective probability that an individual will engage in a specific behavior, where consumer attitudes toward a product or brand, combined with external factors, constitute consumption intention (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1975). Some scholars argue that co-created value represents consumers’ overall value judgment of a product, experience, or service, based on perceived gains and losses that influence consumption intention (Currás-Pérez et al., 2018; Martin & Murphy, 2017; Zeithaml, 1988; Zeng et al., 2021). Sun and Shi suggested that, based on visitors’ desire for interaction and participation, intangible cultural heritage tourism projects can provide opportunities for cultural learning and social experiences. Research results indicate that tourists’ motivations, driven by the esthetic, historical, educational, and cultural values of intangible cultural heritage, all impact their consumption intention (Sun & Shi, 2012). Therefore, this study assumes the following:
Value Co-creation and Tourists’ Spillover Effects
The concept of the spillover effect was initially proposed to refer to the phenomenon in which the behavior or characteristics of a subject can affect others that are connected to the subject but do not possess those behaviors or characteristics themselves (Ahluwalia et al., 2001). The specific behavior of a subject can either enhance or inhibit other behaviors in that domain (Dolan & Galizzi, 2015; Susewind & Hoelzl, 2014). When one behavior enhances the implementation of another behavior by an individual, it results in a positive spillover effect (Van Der Werff & Steg, 2018). Some scholars have argued that value co-creation can generate a positive spillover effect. Finsterwalder and Kuppelwieser (2020) argue that after value co-creation creates well-being through services, some services may have a “spillover effect” that exceeds the expected results of the service. Collaborative value co-creation activities can generate spillover effects, thereby helping to improve efficiency in innovation, product quality (Kerr & Nanda, 2015), and corporate credit ratings (Meliciani et al., 2015). Based on the findings of relevant studies, this study hypothesizes that value co-creation can have a positive spillover effect on post-consumption behaviors, such as social trust, local identity, and repeat visits.
Domestic tourism in China has begun to attract attention, mainly including the trust of community residents in the government, the trust of tourists in the destination or technology platform, and the trust between couch surfers (Pang & Sun, 2024). This article defines tourists’ social trust as their confidence in the people, products, or services of tourist destinations. Deep value co-creation activities can enhance customer social trust (Huang, 2018; Morgan & Hunt, 1994), contributing to long-term cooperation and access to high-quality resources. Some scholars believe that the social value generated through value co-creation can promote customer social trust (C. Zheng et al., 2017). Some scholars have proposed that hedonic experience, social experience, economic experience, cognitive experience, and overall co-creation experience are key dimensions of co-creation experience value. Research shows that co-creation experience positively influences brand communication, trust, and passion. Specifically, brand purchase intention, positive brand referrals, and oppositional brand referrals are identified as key dimensions of brand evangelism (Nkoulou Mvondo et al., 2022). X. J. Xu et al. (2022) stated in their study on the use of cultural heritage digital display apps that the cultural content carried by a platform can evoke cultural identity and corresponding social network relationships; the higher the perception of cultural value, the higher the trust in the brand (X. J. Xu et al., 2022). Based on this, this study posits that:
Melnychuk and Gnatiuk (2018) suggested that an individual’s identity is a strong emotional bond to specific places or environments. Yi et al. (2018) propose that tourists’ place identity refers to the relationship between tourists and specific places, as well as their preferences or subjective tendencies toward these places. The concept of place identity in this study aligns with Melnychuk and Gnatiuk’s viewpoints. Some scholars argue that value co-creation impacts place identity. For example, P. Zhu and Liu (2021) believe that tourists’ place identity is shaped through personal or group interactions with a place, which facilitates a process of socialization; individuals and groups define themselves as part of a specific place, thus constructing their position and role in society through that place. Hu and Li (2022) proposed that, through digital empowerment, a platform for interaction and value creation is provided for both the production and consumption of red tourism products, thereby enhancing social value and strengthening tourists’ place identity. Ye et al. (2020) argue that mutual interaction at grassland tourism sites allows tourists to gain experiential, cultural, and emotional values, and these co-created values positively influence place identity. Building on this, this study formulates the following hypothesis:
The intention to revisit refers to the readiness and willingness of tourists to return to a specific destination (Abubakar et al., 2017), indicating the degree to which a tourist is willing to make a deliberate commitment to perform a certain action (Gu et al., 2021). In the process of value co-creation, experience scenes (Buonincontri et al., 2017; Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Pizam & Tasci, 2019), interactive behaviors (He et al., 2020), and co-created value (Campos et al., 2017) are considered key factors influencing the formation of tourists’ repeat visits. Scholars have suggested that emotional values can drive repeat visits. Specifically, when individuals recall the feelings brought about by elements of the experience (such as excitement, enjoyment, entertainment, pleasure, meaning, etc.), it influences their intention to revisit the tourism destination, thus stimulating future repeat visits (Ali et al., 2018). Some scholars have found in their research on participatory experiences in cultural tourism commercial spaces that immersive and interactive environments allow tourists to experience cultural value, create a flow experience for users, and influence behavioral outcomes. As a result, consumers develop trust and satisfaction, becoming a loyal group that continues to patronize the space (Jiang et al., 2024). In conclusion, this study presents the following hypotheses:
Tourists’ Consumption Intention and Tourists’ Spillover Effects
Numerous studies have shown that emotions following consumer behavior can influence judgment, decision-making, and post-purchase behavior (Bonifield & Cole, 2007). Some scholars have examined the mediating role of consumption intention (İnal & Bil, 2023; Yasin & Shamim, 2013). Yu et al. (2021) demonstrated that consumer trust and purchase intention mediate the relationship between the corporate image of organic food companies and customer co-development behavior (Yu et al., 2021). Regarding social trust, Tan suggests that consumers, by observing interactions after purchase, learn social knowledge or experiences related to the product. They then compare their perceived product with their expectations, adjust their own behavior, and influence social trust, product satisfaction, the formation of consumption habits, and the willingness to continue purchasing the product (Tan et al., 2020). In studies related to place identity, researchers have explored how post-tourism consumption behaviors and experiences can impact place identity (Agapito et al., 2017; Yin et al., 2017). In terms of repeat purchasing behavior and its relation to buying behavior, Zeithaml (1988) suggests that repeat purchase behavior stems from prior purchasing behavior (Zeithaml, 1988). The process doesn’t end after consumers experience a product or service. Scholar B’s research outlines the factors that influence tourists’ decisions to revisit international travel companies’ post-consumption. In particular, when employees offer extensive information, knowledge, and expertise during interactions, it positively affects tourists’ likelihood of revisiting (Kajzar, 2022). Based on these insights, this study proposes the following hypothesis:
The Mediating Role of Tourist Consumption Intention
H. Wang et al. (2021) confirmed that interactive interactions in value co-creation significantly influence immersive experiences, which in turn significantly affect customers’ consumption intentions. Existing studies have shown that consumption intention, based on consumer cognition, leads to consumption behavior, and that consumption experience also influences post-consumption behavior. Zhang suggests that providing specialized product insurance for live-streaming sales helps increase consumers’ consumption intention and optimizes their purchasing experience. Additionally, the efficiency and quality of after-sales services enhance consumer trust (R. G. Zhang & Chen, 2023). Zhong et al. (2021) state that the value consumers perceive from traditional brands is positively related to their satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Perceived value influences purchasing behavior, which in turn affects post-purchase behavior, including repurchase intentions, with purchasing behavior serving as a mediator (Zhong et al., 2021). Ni argues that external environmental stimuli, which stimulate people’s senses and lead to interactive behavioral feedback or intentions, are known as landscape perception. Through satisfaction, this perception influences place identity (Ni et al., 2023). Based on these findings, this study proposes the following hypothesis:
H6: Tourists’ consumption intention mediates the relationship between value co-creation and spillover effect. Specifically, tourists’ consumption intention mediates the relationship between value co-creation dimensions of (a) social value, (b) experiential value, and (c) cultural value, and spillover effect dimensions of tourists’ social trust., place identity, and repeat visits.
This research constructs a theoretical model based on the “stimulus-organism-response” of tourists visiting the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage Site, with the specific theoretical model shown in Figure 1.
Conceptual model.
Methodology
Data Collection
On May 20, 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) officially recognized the “Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Culture System” as a “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)” (W. Wu et al., 2024). The Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage Site (Figure 2) integrates tea cultural resources and implements a strategy for the integrated development of tea and tourism. Value co-creation can generate research value in various areas, including culture, education, tourism, economy, ecology, and social aspects. Despite possessing rich ecotourism resources, the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage Site attracts only a small number of visitors. Additionally, its appeal to tourists from outside the province needs to be enhanced. Promoting tourism development at the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage Site can also provide valuable insights for the dynamic inheritance of agricultural cultural heritage. Therefore, the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage Site was selected as a representative case study.
Location of Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage site.
To enhance the validity and rigor of variable measurement, a preliminary pilot study was conducted prior to the administration of the formal questionnaire. To ensure the clarity, appropriateness, and face validity of the survey items, expert evaluation was performed during the pilot phase by four specialists in the tourism domain. Additionally, feedback from a subset of tourists regarding item comprehension, ambiguity, and other concerns was incorporated to refine wording and response options. This process aimed to streamline the questionnaire, improve measurement precision, and minimize respondent bias. A total of 180 questionnaires were distributed anonymously to ensure data authenticity. Following data screening, 15 invalid responses were excluded, resulting in 165 valid questionnaires, with a response rate of 91.7%. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using SPSS 27.0 was employed to assess the construct validity of the instrument. The results indicated that the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure exceeded 0.70 for all variables, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant at p < .01, confirming the suitability of the data for factor analysis.
The formal survey sample locations for this study were selected from Tieguanyin tea cultural tourist attractions, including Anxi Neixi Mountain Tieguanyin Culture Park, Anxi Tea Park, Yunling Tea Plantation, and Baishiyan Scenic Area. Convenience sampling was employed to distribute the questionnaires. The questionnaire survey was conducted between August and November 2023. A total of 520 questionnaires were distributed by surveyors, achieving a 100% response rate. After excluding 23 questionnaires that did not engage in value co-creation behavior, had short completion times, or exhibited overly concentrated or patterned responses, 497 valid questionnaires were obtained, resulting in an effective response rate of 95.6%.
Measurement
In this study, a multi-index 7-point Likert scale was used for measurement, with anchors ranging from “completely disagree” (1) to “completely agree” (7). The measurement scale was designed based on existing research and the cultural heritage tourism context of Anxi Tieguanyin. The measurement of value co-creation was adapted from the works of Sweeney (Sweeney & Soutar, 2001), Wu (H. C. Wu & Li, 2017), Sha (Sha et al., 2010), Weng (Weng et al., 2020), and Zhang (Q. Y. Zhang & Zheng, 2022), encompassing societal value, experiential value, and cultural value. The scale for tourists’ consumption intention was primarily based on the research of Dodds (Dodds et al., 1991), Xu (Y. F. Xu & Fan, 2022), Meng (B. Meng & Choi, 2018), and Xin (Xin & Song, 2021). The items measuring spillover effects were adapted from the studies of Morgan (Morgan & Hunt, 1994), Liu (Liu et al., 2021), Ye (Ye et al., 2020), Chen (Chen & Rahman, 2018), and Stylos (Stylos et al., 2016), with spillover effects categorized into social trust, local identity, and repeat visits. The details are presented in Table 2.
Analysis Method
After data retrieval, this study first performed descriptive statistical analysis and reliability and validity testing using SPSS 27.0, followed by confirmatory factor analysis using Amos 27.0 to establish a structural equation model of agricultural heritage site value co-creation, tourists’ consumption intention, and spillover effects. Next, the study conducted a fit assessment and path coefficient analysis. Finally, the bootstrap method was used to test the mediating effect of tourists’ consumption intention between value co-creation and spillover effects.
Results and Discussion
Profile of Respondents
Table 1 presents the basic information of the 497 respondents (270 males and 227 females). The majority of tourists (83.5%) are in the 18 to 40 age range. Most tourists have at least a college degree, followed by high school or vocational school education (67% and 18.3%, respectively). Approximately 61.6% of tourists have a monthly income ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 RMB. The largest group of tourists (28.2%) are employed in enterprises, followed by students or self-employed individuals. A significant proportion (70.6%) of tourists are repeat visitors. The most common tourist activity is seeking travel advice, accounting for 52.7% of respondents.
Statistical Characteristics of the Sample Population.
Scale Reliability and Validity
A confirmatory factor analysis model was first constructed, and the overall fit indices of the measurement model were as follows: χ2/df = 2.099, RMSEA = 0.047, GFI = 0.886, AGFI = 0.865, CFI = 0.932, TLI = 0.925, and IFI = 0.933. Overall, the fit indices met the standard, indicating that the model constructed in this study was well fitted. To assess the reliability and validity of the constructs, AVE, CR, HTMT, and standardized factor loadings were examined. Detailed results are provided in Supplemental Appendix A.
The reliability test results are shown in Table 2. The Cronbach’s α values for each latent variable in the formal questionnaire are all greater than 0.7 (Hair, 2009), and the Cronbach’s α values after deleting each item are lower than the original Cronbach’s α value for the variable, indicating good internal consistency of the formal scale used in this study and strong reliability of the scale.
Measurement Model Assessment.
For convergent validity, both the AVE and C.R. values can be assessed through factor loading calculations. Typically, the composite reliability (C.R.) value should be no less than 0.6, and the AVE value should be at least 0.36 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The results of the convergent validity test for this study are shown in Table 2. As seen from the table, most factor loadings are greater than 0.7, indicating strong internal consistency of the model. Additionally, the AVE values for each variable are all greater than or equal to 0.5, demonstrating high validity among the variables.
Regarding discriminant validity, this study employs the Fornell-Larcker criterion (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) and cross-loading analysis to assess discriminant validity, evaluating whether the square root of the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for each construct exceeds the inter-construct correlation coefficients. The “Fornell and Larcker criterion” is shown in Table 3. There is a significant correlation (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) (p < .01) among social value, experiential value, cultural value, tourists’ consumption intention, tourists’ social trust, tourists’ place identity, and tourists’ repeat visits. Additionally, the standardized correlation coefficients between each pair of dimensions are all lower than the square root of their corresponding AVE, indicating a certain degree of correlation between latent variables while still maintaining a reasonable level of distinction from each other (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). This suggests that the discriminant validity of the scale data is ideal.
Fornell-Larcker Criterion.
Although the Fornell-Larcker criterion is widely employed in discriminant validity assessment, these methods may occasionally fail to reliably detect issues of insufficient discriminant validity under certain conditions (Henseler et al., 2015). Consequently, this study follows the recommendations of Henseler et al. (2015) by calculating the Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio of Correlations (HTMT) to enhance the robustness of discriminant validity evaluation. As shown in Table 4, “Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT),” all construct pairings exhibit HTMT values within the range of 0.272 to 0.632, with the highest HTMT value being 0.632, remaining below the stringent threshold of 0.85 (Henseler et al., 2015). This confirms that the latent variables in this study demonstrate adequate discriminant validity. Additionally, Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) for all independent variables, computed via SPSS 27, are below 5, indicating the absence of severe multicollinearity issues among the predictor constructs.
Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT).
Model Fitting
This study conducted computational analysis on 497 samples using Amos 27.0 software, and the analysis results are shown in Table 5. From the table, it can be seen that χ2/df = 2.236 < 3, RMSEA = 0.050 < 0.08, CFI = 0.923 > 0.90, TLI = 0.915 > 0.90, IFI = 0.924 > 0.90, indicating an acceptable model fit. In conclusion, the goodness of fit of this structural model meets the test requirements, thus the hypothetical model can be considered as the final model.
Model Fit Assessment.
Hypothesis Testing
The path test results of the structural equation model are shown in Table 6 and Figure 3. In this study, the significance of the structural equation model was tested based on the loading coefficients and path coefficients in the model. A CR value of at least 1.96 and a p-value of no greater than 0.05 indicate a significant causal relationship between variables. As shown in the table, all 15 hypothesis test paths are valid, and the standardized path coefficients for each hypothesis are positive, suggesting a positive causal relationship between the variables.
Pathway Correlation Analysis Result of the Structural Equation Model.
Path coefficient test results.
Specifically, within the dimension of value co-creation, social value (β = .140, p < .01), experiential value (β = .274, p < .001), and cultural value (β = .226, p < .001) all have a significant positive impact on tourists’ consumption intention, supporting hypotheses H1-1, H1-2, and H1-3. Additionally, social value (β = .174, p < .01), experiential value (β = .209, p < .001), and cultural value (β = .324, p < .001) within the value co-creation dimension all significantly influence tourists’ social trust, supporting hypotheses H2-1, H2-2, and H2-3. Furthermore, social value (β = .227, p < .001), experiential value (β = .184, p < .001), and cultural value (β = .286, p < .001) within the same dimension all have a significant positive impact on tourists’ place identity, supporting hypotheses H3-1, H3-2, and H3-3. Social value (β = .200, p < .001), experiential value (β = .162, p < .01), and cultural value (β = .267, p < .001) under the value co-creation dimension all significantly affect tourists’ repeat visits, supporting hypotheses H4-1, H4-2, and H4-3. Lastly, tourists’ consumption intention significantly influences tourists’ social trust (β = .146, p < .05), place identity (β = .248, p < .001), and repeat visits (β = .177, p < .01) within the spillover effects dimension, supporting hypotheses H5-1, H5-2, and H5-3.
Mediation Analyses
According to the theoretical model established in this study, the mediating role of consumption intention between value co-creation and the spillover effects is tested. This study uses the Bootstrap method in AMOS 27.0 to assess the mediating effects (see Table 7). The sample size is set to 2000, the confidence level for the interval is set at 95%, and the biased-corrected non-parametric percentile method is employed to test the mediating role and type of tourists’ consumption intention, recording the upper and lower limit values. If the interval in the test results does not include 0, the mediating effect is considered significant; if the interval includes 0, the mediating effect is not significant. When both the indirect and direct effects are significant, it indicates partial mediation; when only the indirect effect is significant and the direct effect is not, it indicates complete mediation. The test results are shown in Table 7.
Summary Table of Intermediate Effects.
From the table, it can be observed that in the value co-creation context, social value, experiential value, and cultural value each have direct effects on tourists’ social trust, place identity, and repeat visits, and all also exhibit indirect effects through the mediating role of tourists’ consumption intention. Specifically, the Bootstrap method analysis shows that social value has indirect effects on tourists’ social trust, place identity, and repeat visits, with confidence intervals of (0.001, 0.038), (0.005, 0.074), and (0.003, 0.065) respectively, none of which includes 0. This indicates that tourists’ consumption intention mediates the effects of social value on tourists’ social trust, place identity, and repeat visits. Similarly, experiential value has indirect effects on tourists’ social trust, place identity, and repeat visits, with confidence intervals of (0.002, 0.066), (0.026, 0.135), and (0.015, 0.115) respectively, none of which includes 0. This suggests that tourists’ consumption intention mediates the effects of experiential value on social trust, place identity, and repeat visits. Lastly, cultural value has indirect effects on tourists’ social trust, place identity, and repeat visits, with confidence intervals of (0.001, 0.066), (0.019, 0.129), and (0.010, 0.122) respectively, none of which includes 0. This further supports that tourists’ consumption intention plays a mediating role in the relationship between cultural value and tourists’ social trust, place identity, and repeat visits. Therefore, hypotheses H6-1 to H6-9 are all supported.
Conclusion and Implications
This study is grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory and social exchange theory, constructing a research framework of “value co-creation—tourists’ consumption intention—spillover effect.” Unlike previous studies that treat consumption intention as an outcome variable, this research emphasizes how value co-creation influences post-visit positive spillover behaviors through tourists’ consumption intention. Within this framework, value co-creation functions as an external stimulus, with consumption intention identified as a pivotal “organism” variable, and post-visit positive spillover behaviors are conceptualized as responses driven by tourists’ emotional and cognitive states.
The research findings indicate that value co-creation serves as a positive driver in fostering tourists’ positive post-visit spillover effects, with consumption intention acting as a mediating variable in the influence of value co-creation on tourism spillover outcomes. This evidence corroborates the fundamental logic of the “external stimulus–behavior response” pathway within the S-O-R model, aligning with prior studies (Amir et al., 2025). Additionally, a positive correlation between value co-creation and post-visit spillover effects is observed (Amir et al., 2025; Lopes et al., 2024; F. Xu et al., 2021). Value co-creation is a process of emotional expression, information exchange, problem solving, and cultural experiences, constantly stimulating tourists’ purchasing power (L. Meng et al., 2020), which can enhance tourists’ trust (X. J. Xu et al., 2022) and identification (Ye et al., 2020) with the heritage site, as well as generate post-tour spillover effects such as future revisit intentions (Ali et al., 2018). The spillover effect of behavior is closely linked to individuals’ attitudes, emotions, and other internal states (Bem, 1972). Co-creation experiences influence tourists’ corresponding attitudes and emotions, enabling them to anticipate unexpressed behaviors. This process aligns with social exchange theory within organizational behavior, whereby the co-creation of value between hosts and guests in agricultural cultural heritage sites facilitates a reciprocal interpersonal exchange process (F. Xu et al., 2021). When tourists recognize the co-created value derived from interactive engagement at heritage sites, they feel compelled to reciprocate through consumption actions, social trust, local identity, and revisit intentions. Consistent with prior research, X. Xu et al. (2026) posits that communities drive value co-creation by incentivizing customers to contribute valuable content and participate in interactions based on reciprocal expectations, thereby generating exchange value through this process. Therefore, agricultural cultural heritage sites should strive to create conditions for promoting mutual value creation between hosts and guests, enhance tourist consumption experiences and expectations, and increase the occurrence of positive tourist overflow behaviors.
Furthermore, this study identifies that tourists’ purchase intention functions as a mediating variable facilitating the positive spillover effects of co-creation between service providers and consumers. Tourists’ consumption intention is formed through interactive experiential satisfaction during the tourism process, whereby value co-creation activities deliver diverse benefits, enhancing perceived personal gains and thereby stimulating subsequent consumption intentions. This process also contributes to the dissemination of positive destination reputation; when the consumption experience aligns with tourists’ expectations, it fosters sustainable behavioral intentions. Additionally, these findings corroborate the Service-Dominant Logic (Vargo & Lusch, 2004), which emphasizes value co-creation through interactive engagement rather than passive consumption. Tourists are thus not merely recipients of services but active participants in the experiential process. Heritage sites, in particular, facilitate deeper engagement, thereby strengthening consumption intention and promoting positive post-visit behaviors. Previous research generally indicates that value co-creation significantly influences consumption intention. For instance, Shi (2022) suggest that enterprises engaging in social value co-creation activities to establish close principal-agent relationships can enhance consumption intention through social identification with the company. Tourists’ consumption intention also serves as a fundamental prerequisite for positive spillover effects post-visit; only when tourists’ experiential expectations are met and their positive emotional perceptions are stimulated can the formation of positive spillover effects be facilitated. This aligns with prior findings, such as Chen et al. (2022), which demonstrate that experiential marketing in cultural and tourism cities can enhance tourists’ positive consumption emotions, with high-quality experiential engagement directly motivating revisit intentions and secondary consumption (Chen et al., 2022). The mediating role of consumption intention in influencing post-visit behaviors has been underexplored; thus, this study aims to contribute by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between consumption intention and post-visit behavioral outcomes.
Theoretical Contributions
Only a few scholars have established local theories from aspects such as public service value co-creation in tourism, and the impact of local emotions in Chinese social culture on the willingness for co-creation between hosts and guests (Wei et al., 2020). This study takes the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage Site as the research subject, enriching the local research on tourism value co-creation under the unique Chinese context.
Most studies treat consumption intention as the outcome variable, with fewer studies considering consumption intention as a mediating variable. This study reveals the mediating role of tourists’ consumption intention in the impact of co-creation value on spillover effects. Additionally, it enriches the research on spillover effects in the field of tourist consumer behavior.
Managerial Implications
The research findings reveal that the interaction between hosts and guests within agricultural cultural heritage sites plays a significant role in enhancing tourists’ consumption intention and positive spillover behaviors. Consequently, heritage sites should optimize the co-creation environment for shared value between stakeholders, fostering visitor engagement in the creation of diverse cultural and experiential values. To promote visitor participation in value co-creation, heritage sites should implement participatory activities that stimulate curiosity and attract tourists to craft personalized experiences (Ross & Saxena, 2019). To meet visitor demands and improve experiential quality, emphasis should be placed on the co-creation of social, experiential, and cultural values. Specifically, (1) promoting social value co-creation requires strengthening interpersonal interaction and engagement depth, thereby deepening emotional bonds between the local community and visitors (Amir et al., 2025). Smoother host-guest interactions facilitate emotional recognition, ultimately triggering consumption behaviors. Additionally, heritage sites should pay attention to visitors’ emotional expression, enhancing service content and quality based on their understanding and perceptions of the scenic area and tourism products. (2) Facilitating experiential value co-creation involves providing more online and offline feedback channels, increasing service personnel to address visitor inquiries efficiently, and fostering emotional resonance. Effective utilization of digital platforms, such as new media for information dissemination and cultivating “cultural tourism influencers,” can promote tourism information spread; offline, cultural tourism exhibitions and the joint development of rich cultural products can enhance immersive visitor experiences. (3) Advancing cultural value co-creation entails in-depth exploration of Tieguanyin tea culture, integrating cultural values into participatory formats, and actively developing interactive cultural products to deepen visitors’ understanding and impressions of Tieguanyin tea culture, thereby increasing awareness of the heritage’s historical, contemporary, and intrinsic values. Organizing tea cultural festivals, such as eco-friendly tea songs, tea dances, and Gaojia opera performances, can enrich visitors’ cultural perception and strengthen their willingness to revisit. Furthermore, heritage sites should also consider the influence of tourists’ purchase intentions on post-visit spillover behaviors by refining tourism infrastructure based on interactive feedback and enhancing market regulation to ensure that tea cultural products conform to market standards. This approach aims to provide satisfactory consumption experiences in dining, accommodation, transportation, and recreational facilities, thereby boosting tourists’ purchase intentions and trust in local tourism offerings and promoting positive word-of-mouth dissemination.
Limitations and Future Research Avenues
In this study, there are still some shortcomings: (1) Questionnaire data may be biased due to uncontrollable factors such as respondents’ understanding bias, willingness to respond, and social experience; (2) Considering the complexity of value co-creation behavior, the three dimensions of value co-creation delineated in this study are somewhat limited and cannot fully cover the essence of value co-creation; (3) This study did not deeply explore the influence of users’ demographic characteristics on the research model; (4) The value co-creation behavior discussed in this study is only from the perspective of tourists and lacks comprehensiveness; (5) The scope of data collection is relatively limited, with convenience sampling predominantly targeting individuals aged 18 to 40. Tourists over 40 constitute only 14.10% of the sample, resulting in an insufficient representation of older adult tourists and a lack of comprehensive demographic coverage. (6) This study employs convenience sampling, which may introduce selection bias and limit the representativeness of the sample. The sampling is geographically confined to the Anxi Tieguanyin Cultural Heritage Area, thereby constraining the ability to capture variations in tourists’ behavioral preferences across different agricultural cultural heritage sites with diverse characteristics.
Future research could be more comprehensively expanded in the following aspects: (1) Factors such as gender, education, and experience should be included in the testing of the structural equation model to explore differences in consumption willingness under different demographic conditions; (2) Future research could integrate and compare the impact of value co-creation from different perspectives on consumption intention and tourist behavior; (3) Research on related elements of value co-creation can be enriched. For example, in the context of rural tourism, measurement studies on the co-creation capabilities, as well as research on the driving factors and subsequent effects of value co-destruction; (4) Future research should increase the sample size of elderly tourists to enhance the representativeness and generalizability of the findings. (5) Future research should consider utilizing probability sampling techniques, such as stratified random sampling, to obtain more representative samples. Expanding the scope to include multiple agricultural cultural heritage sites with diverse characteristics would facilitate comparative analysis of user preferences across different tourism destinations, thereby enhancing the external validity of the research findings.
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-1-sgo-10.1177_21582440261430862 – Supplemental material for Breaking Away from Tradition: The New Role of Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage in Tourist Consumption
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-sgo-10.1177_21582440261430862 for Breaking Away from Tradition: The New Role of Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Cultural Heritage in Tourist Consumption by Weibo Lyu and Weiling Lin in SAGE Open
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Social Science Foundation of China (No.21BGL148): “Spatial-Temporal Differentiation and Management Response of China’s Tourism Industrial Ecologization” (21BGL148).
Ethical Considerations
The study does not require further approval from the Ethics Committee as it does not involve animal or human clinical trials and is not unethical. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Author Contributions
Weibo Lyu: Conceptualization; methodology; software; validation; investigation; resources; data curation; writing-original draft preparation; writing-review and editing; visualization; supervision. Weiling Lin: Conceptualization; formal analysis; writing-review and editing; project administration; funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (No.21BGL148): “Spatial-Temporal Differentiation and Management Response of China’s Tourism Industrial Ecologization” (21BGL148).
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.*
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
References
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