Title of Paper

Understanding Visitor Experiences at Dark Tourism Sites: A Moderating Effect of Flow Experiences

Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Mina Kim is a graduate student in the Department of Tourism and Convention at Pusan National University. She is interested in understanding the psychological and behavioral attributes related to participation in leisure, and tourism and sustainability of tourism industry.

Jihee Kim is a graduate student in the Department of Tourism and Convention at Pusan National University. Her main research interest is Special Interest Tourism (SIT), heritage and adventure tourism in particular. She is also interested in revitalizing local tourism by applying Virtual Reality (VR) to it.

Hany Kim, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Tourism and Convention at Pusan National University. Her research interests include travel marketing and behavior. She is currently focused on destination branding and cross-cultural issues in user-generated media.

Abstract (150 Words)

This study examines the effects of tourists' experiences at places of death and suffering on perceived value, place attachment, and behavioral intentions as well as flow experience as a moderator, focusing on the case of Busan, South Korea. The reason why the authors specifically focused on the case of Busan is that it has the potential to become a dark tourism destination due to its tragic histories such as wars, invasions, and Japanese occupation. In this study, we hypothesize that a flow experience moderates the relationship between perceived value and satisfaction. Additionally, it is hypothesized satisfaction positively affects both behavioral intentions and place attachment. The results showed that all of the experiences significantly influenced emotional and cognitive values except for aesthetic experience to cognitive value. Further, the findings indicated that flow had a significant effect on the relationship between emotional value and satisfaction, and attachment significantly influenced revisit intentions.

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Understanding Visitor Experiences at Dark Tourism Sites: A Moderating Effect of Flow Experiences

This study examines the effects of tourists' experiences at places of death and suffering on perceived value, place attachment, and behavioral intentions as well as flow experience as a moderator, focusing on the case of Busan, South Korea. The reason why the authors specifically focused on the case of Busan is that it has the potential to become a dark tourism destination due to its tragic histories such as wars, invasions, and Japanese occupation. In this study, we hypothesize that a flow experience moderates the relationship between perceived value and satisfaction. Additionally, it is hypothesized satisfaction positively affects both behavioral intentions and place attachment. The results showed that all of the experiences significantly influenced emotional and cognitive values except for aesthetic experience to cognitive value. Further, the findings indicated that flow had a significant effect on the relationship between emotional value and satisfaction, and attachment significantly influenced revisit intentions.