Associations of Sport-Event Image with Cultural Heritage Tourism Loyalty: Sequential Mediation in a Cross-Sectional Survey.

Authors

Jie Ni, Xu Zhang

Published in

Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE. Issue 235. Sep 08, 2026. Epub Sep 08, 2026.

Abstract

Sport events are increasingly used to promote cultural heritage destinations, yet the mechanisms linking event image with tourist loyalty remain insufficiently understood. This field-based cross-sectional survey examined the associations among sport-event image, embodied experience, place attachment, and tourist loyalty. A structured Chinese-language questionnaire was administered to tourists attending a heritage-themed sport event. After data screening, 386 valid responses were retained from 412 collected questionnaires (valid-response rate among returned questionnaires, 93.7%). Each construct was measured using five reflective Likert-scale items. Partial least squares structural equation modeling showed positive associations between event image and embodied experience (β = 0.470, t = 10.82, p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.383-0.551), embodied experience and place attachment (β = 0.507, t = 11.36, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.421-0.589), and place attachment and tourist loyalty (β = 0.524, t = 10.74, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.430-0.611). The direct association between event image and tourist loyalty was weak and not statistically significant (β = 0.100, t = 1.88, p = 0.060, 95% CI = -0.004 to 0.203), whereas the sequential indirect association through embodied experience and place attachment was significant (β = 0.125, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.074-0.184). Because the data were cross-sectional, these estimates represent statistical associations rather than temporal causation. These findings are consistent with a sequential association in which a favorable sport-event image is linked to greater tourist loyalty through embodied experience and place attachment in a cultural heritage tourism context.

PMID:
42714066
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 09 Sep 2026.

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