Investigating the impact of tourists’ perceived authenticity and aesthetics on word-of-mouth in cultural heritage sites

While the authenticity and beauty inherent in heritage sites have been acknowledged, the influence of tourists' perceived authenticity on their aesthetic judgment and subsequent word-of-mouth remains under-explored. Drawing on Dewey's aesthetic theory, this study pioneeringly identifies and refines the order and aura aspects of aesthetics from relevant literature and an expert panel review. This study then investigates how tourists' perceived authenticity of architecture and traditional culture affects their order and aura aesthetics and word-of-mouth (WOM). Onsite surveys were collected at two heritage sites in China: Lijiang and Yongding. Our study suggests the significant role of authentic architecture and traditional culture in shaping tourists' aesthetic judgment of heritage order and aura, which subsequently provokes their WOM. The type of cultural heritage sites is also found to moderates the relationships among studied constructs. The study concludes theoretical and practical implications of these findings.