Consumers’ Behavioral Intentions for Rural Tourism in Sichuan Province

Abstract

Abstract

Rural tourism is of great significance to China’s rural revitalization strategy. The purpose of this article is to 1) find out the current factors that influence consumers’ behavioral intentions for rural tourism; 2) explore the interaction mechanism between each factor and consumers’ behavioral intentions;3) Provide certain suggestions to relevant managers and practitioners of rural tourism to promote the rapid recovery and development of rural tourism. Random sampling was adopted, and an online questionnaire was formed using Questionnaire Star software. Sichuan rural tourism consumers were invited to collect questionnaires by traveling to rural tourism destinations in Chengdu, and a total of 401 valid questionnaires were received. Computer statistical analysis was performed on the data collected from the survey, including descriptive statistical analysis, reliability test, validity test, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model analysis. The study found that (1) rural tourism behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, policies and systems, tourism resources, new media information, and epidemic risks are all factors that affect consumers' behavioral intentions for rural tourism in Sichuan.(2) Rural tourism behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, policy systems, and tourism resources can directly affect rural tourism behavioral intentions;Policy systems, tourism resources, epidemic risks, and new media information can affect rural tourism behavioral intentions by affecting behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.(3) Sichuan rural tourism managers and related practitioners should strengthen the construction of policies and systems, stimulate investment to create unique tourism resources, avoid homogeneity, and improve adaptive epidemic response policies.At the same time, make full use of new media to strengthen publicity, increase exposure and positive reviews, improve consumer awareness, and arouse tourists' interest and trust, so that more people are willing to participate in Sichuan rural tourism. The limitation of this study is that there are differences in the development of rural tourism in different regions. In future research, the research scope should be expanded and rural tourism tourists in many places in China should be used as the research object.