Roles of authenticity and nostalgia in cultural heritage tourists’ travel experience sharing behavior on social media

Abstract

While modern tourists rely heavily on social media content, extant literature does not clarify what kind of travel experiences activate sharing behavior on social media. In the context of cultural heritage tourism, this study aims to examine the structural relationships among authenticity (i.e. objective, constructive, and existential), nostalgia (i.e. personal and historical), and travel experience sharing behavior on social media. For this, the data obtained based on 442 responses from domestic heritage tourists in South Korea were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated the significant roles of existential authenticity and personal nostalgia in predicting heritage tourists’ sharing behavior.