The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of experience factors perceived by tourists during their stay at village hotels on perceived value and revisit intention, and to investigate the moderating role of the relationship quality between to...
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of experience factors perceived by tourists during their stay at village hotels on perceived value and revisit intention, and to investigate the moderating role of the relationship quality between tourists and local residents in these relationships. Recently, village hotels based on local resources and resident participation have gained attention as an alternative form of sustainable regional tourism. However, research examining how the experiential characteristics of village hotels are associated with tourists’ value perceptions and behavioral intentions remains limited. In this regard, this study seeks to clarify the structural relationships among tourist experiences in the context of village hotels.
Based on Pine & Gilmore’s experience economy theory, this study conceptualizes village hotel experience factors into four dimensions: entertainment, esthetic, educational, and escapist experiences. Perceived value and revisit intention are specified as the primary outcome variables. In addition, reflecting the community-based nature of village hotels, the relationship quality between tourists and local residents is incorporated as a moderating variable to examine whether the relationships among experience factors, perceived value, and revisit intention vary according to relational context.
A survey was conducted with adults who had stayed at a domestic village hotel for at least one night. The findings indicate that village hotel experience factors exert differentiated effects across the sub-dimensions of perceived value, and perceived value serves as a key antecedent of revisit intention. Specifically, escapist and esthetic experiences are significantly associated with economic value, while educational and escapist experiences are closely related to social and emotional value. In contrast, entertainment experience shows relatively limited associations with perceived value. These results suggest that value perceptions in village hotels are shaped less by simple enjoyment and more by experiences related to escape from daily life, local environments, and learning-oriented engagement.
The relationship between perceived value and revisit intention reveals that emotional value and economic value have significant positive effects on revisit intention, whereas social and cultural value do not exhibit statistically significant effects. This finding indicates that emotional satisfaction and perceptions of value for money play a central role in tourists’ revisit decision-making processes within the village hotel context.
Furthermore, the relationship quality demonstrates a partial moderating effect on the relationship between experience factors and perceived value. In particular, this relational quality moderates the relationships between entertainment, esthetic, and educational experiences and cultural value, such that higher levels of positive interaction with local residents strengthen the perception of village hotel experiences as cultural value. This result underscores the importance of relational context in shaping cultural value in village hotels, beyond the experiential factors themselves.
Overall, the findings indicate that the performance of village hotels is influenced not only by physical facilities or functional services but also by experiential characteristics and relational experiences. This study contributes to positioning village hotels as a distinct research context within regional tourism accommodation and provides a foundation for sustainable operational strategies and future research.
Keywords: village hotels, experience factors, perceived value, revisit intention, relationship quality