Travel with your textbooks: How cultural memory mediums affect tourist behavior

Abstract

Textbooks are an important medium for constructing cultural memory, influencing people's future tourism behavior, but the mechanism remains ambiguous. Using cultural memory theory and the stimulus-organism-response framework, this study explored the influence of cultural memory mediums on tourism behavior pre- and post-trip. A mixed research method was used, and data were collected through online reviews of 6 scenic spots, 156 open-ended questionnaires, 323 student questionnaires, and 337 tourist questionnaires. The results show that cultural memory consists of two mediums: textual memory and spatial memory. Before traveling, textbook-based textual memory directly affects readers' visit intention (f² = 0.031). After traveling, spatial memory based on sensory experience directly affects tourist loyalty (f² = 0.024). Cultural memory can indirectly influence tourism behavior through perceived authenticity, place attachment, and well-being. Unlike previous studies that focused on individuals' autobiographical memories or nostalgia, this study reveals how tourists' cultural memories about destinations shaped by textbooks during a long, institutionalized formal education can influence tourist behavior, which provides a new perspective on tourism memory research.