Examining Factors Influencing Destination Loyalty among Mountain Sports Tourists Using the Stimulus-Organism-Response Theory

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore structural relationships between memorable tourism experience(MTE), personal involvement, positive emotion and destination loyalty by applying the stimulus-organism-response with emphasis on the mediating influences of positive emotion on these relationships among mountain sports tourists. The authors collected data from 231 tourists with experience in mountain sports tourism in South Korea and assessed the measurement scale’s validity and reliability with confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and correlational analysis. Structural equation modeling was conducted to evaluate four factors: MTE, personal involvement, positive emotion and destination loyalty. The findings indicated positive impacts of (a) MTE on positive emotion and destination loyalty, (b) personal involvement on positive emotion and destination loyalty, and (c) positive emotion on destination loyalty. In addition, positive emotion partially mediates the relationships between ‘MTE and destination loyalty,’ and ‘personal involvement and destination loyalty.’