Tourism Memory Characteristics Scale: Development and Validation

Youngsoo Kim, Manuel Alector Ribeiro* (Corresponding Author), Gang Li

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Recall of tourism experiences is a decisive factor in tourists’ future behavior and decision making when choosing destinations. Understanding the phenomenology of tourism memory can enable tourism organizations to enter a more competitive marketplace. Although extensive literature has addressed how to provide memorable tourism experiences, limited studies have focused on the autobiographical memories associated with these experiences. This research employed rigorous scale development procedures to establish the Tourism Memory Characteristics Scale (TMCS). Findings point to a seven-dimension scale consisting of accessibility, trip details, vividness, sensory details, valence, emotional intensity, and sharing. Tourism memory characteristics were found to support the scale’s dimensional structure, validity, and reliability. It was also found that tourism memory influences revisit intention and word of mouth. Results present opportunities for tourism organizations to capture the fundamental characteristics of their products by using the TMCS.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1308-1326
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Travel Research
Volume61
Issue number6
Early online date11 Aug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work is partially financed by Portuguese Funds provided by FCT– Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal) through project UIDB/04020/2020.

Keywords

  • tourism experiences
  • autobiographical memory
  • phenomenology
  • tourism memory characteristics
  • scale development

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