Exploring How Tourist Engagement Affects Destination Loyalty: The Intermediary Role of Value and Satisfaction

A conceptual network between and among tourist engagement, perceived value, tourist satisfaction, and destination loyalty was constructed and validated based on 401 valid samples collected in Phoenix Ancient Town, a famous destination in western Hunan, China. The research results confirm the logic chain in marketing psychology of “engagement-value-evaluation/behavior” in the context of a tourism destination. Specifically, tourist engagement has direct positive effects on destination loyalty, but not on tourist satisfaction. In addition, tourist engagement exerts indirect positive effects on destination loyalty by producing functional value and emotional value for tourists which, in turn, promotes tourist satisfaction towards a destination. However, the indirect influences of tourist engagement on tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty by way of creating tourists’ social value are not significant. This research validates the role of tourist engagement in the formation of destination loyalty from a tourist value perspective and thereby offers a new theoretical clue for tourism marketing.