Fan groups, family, and Chinese tourists' purchase intentions to cultural products: A structural equation modeling approach based on dimensional innovation

Abstract

The popularity of traditional culture and social change has led to cultural products moving from niche to popular categories in the Chinese tourism market. In this context, understanding the social factors becomes crucial. This study aims to explore the effects of fan groups and family cultural capital on perceived congruity and their subsequent impacts on the purchase intentions of cultural products. Using the grounded theory approach, this study developed the dimensions of fan group involvement, family cultural capital, and perceived congruity. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was adopted to test the research model. The results illustrated that most of relationships among group involvements/family cultural capital, perceived congruity, and purchase intention were significant. The influences of interactivity in fan groups and family capital materiality on perceived congruity were greater than those of the other antecedents. Fan groups and families did not follow the same path in influencing behavioral intentions. It was found that group belonging and family cultural activity did not directly affect the purchase intention. Meanwhile, group belonging and family cultural resonance's effects on perceived symbolic congruity were insignificant. Similarly, family cultural activity had no significant impact on perceived self-image congruity. The results of bootstrap revealed that the most mediating effects in the model were significant. This study provides new insights to construct an innovative framework. It has developed dimensions of traditional consumer socialization agents in the field of consumer behavior, typically applied as observable variables in education studies. The findings highlight the importance of several social and psychological factors to enhance tourists' purchase intentions for cultural products. The conclusions offer practical recommendations for brands that attempt to incorporate traditional elements into their products and marketing strategies.