Awe: An Important Emotional Experience in Sustainable Tourism

Abstract

"Awesome" is one of the most highly desirable experiences for tourists. This study investigates how tourists' awe emotion is induced when tourists visit sacred mountains and how the awe experience influences their satisfaction. A survey is administrated at a famous sacred mountain in China-Mount Emei. Results reveal that the awe experience is more elicited by the perceived vastness of natural environment for secular tourists, while is more encouraged by the perceived sanctity of religious ambience for pilgrim tourists. Awe experience is a mediator between the sense of perceptual vastness/sanctity and tourists' satisfaction. The mediation relationships through awe experience are moderated by the visitor types (pilgrims and secular tourists). Findings suggest that destination marketers should apply tourism strategies to encourage tourists' sense of awe.

From Awe to Ecological Behavior: The Mediating Role of Connectedness to Nature

“…Consequently, it is reasonable to conclude that awe can instigate an individual's feeling of connectedness to larger entities, like nature, by inspiring the perception of the small self. Secondly, awe could motivate people to take in new information or enhance people's openness to novel experiences, which has been confirmed to correlate positively with CN [18,25,26]. Since the openness to novel experience could blur the permeable mental boundaries between self and others [27].…”

Exploring sustainable experiences in tourism

“…Recently scholars have turned their attention to sustainable experiences as a means of obtaining competitive advantages while enhancing destination sustainability and experience value (Chen et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2016;Lu et al, 2017;Poudel & Nyaupane, 2013;Smit & Melissen, 2018). Chen et al (2011) demonstrate the importance of tourist experiences related to sustainability issues and suggest that in the long run, environmental awareness may lead to changes in tourists' travel intentions.…”

“…They find that if tourists feel a sense of "novelty" about a tourist destination, it can increase their sustainability experience and further enhance willingness and satisfaction towards sustainable tourism. Lu et al (2017) found that feeling "awesome" is an important emotional experience in sustainable tourism within a mountain destination. Poudel and Nyaupane (2013) found that positive changes in attitude and behaviour indicated that environmental interpretation (e.g.…”

“…To our knowledge, there is no clear definition of the concept of sustainable experiences. Even if empirical studies (Chen et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2016;Lu et al, 2017;Poudel & Nyaupane, 2013) emphasize the importance of linking tourist experiences to certain sustainability issues, the concept is diffuse and vague. Our study adds to previous research by combining memorable experiences and future concerns (proxy of sustainability issues) into the four specific sustainable experience dimensions of interaction with the natural environment, interaction with the cultural environment, insights and views, and lakebased activities (or contextual activities).…”

“…In view of the need to sustainably develop tourism destinations, it has become critical to design destinations in ways that mutually facilitate experiences to enhance visitors' perceived experience value and destination sustainability. However, it is only recently that tourism research has turned its attention to sustainable experiences as a potential means to obtain competitive advantage, while enhancing destination sustainability and perceived experience value (Chen et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2016;Lu et al, 2017;Poudel & Nyaupane, 2013). To our knowledge, this concept has only been vaguely engaged without a proper definition or empirical operationalization.…”