Publication Date
Fall 9-28-2016
Document Type
Refereed academic paper for presentation
Abstract
While the literature on heritage tourism recognizes the importance of emotions in predicting satisfaction and other post consumption behaviours, few studies examine the discrete emotions that determine tourists’ attachment to heritage sites. Accordingly, this study evaluates the relationships between three important antecedents of tourist satisfaction namely, motivation, discrete emotions and place attachment. Visitors at the Su Nuraxi UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sardinia, Italy were surveyed at the end of their visit. From the 497 useable surveys, the findings indicated that not all positive and negative discrete emotions predict satisfaction and attachment. The emotions of pride, love, gratitude, positive surprise and sadness predict different dimensions of attachment. Only two discrete emotions (positive surprise and regret) predict overall satisfaction. Implications for theory and managerial practice are suggested.