The role of natural soundscape in nature-based tourism experience: an extension of the stimulus–organism–response model

ABSTRACT

This paper echoes the call for multisensory tourism research from the perspective of auditory sensory experience. Based on an extended stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, the natural soundscape is linked with tourists’ emotion and behaviour, and the possible structural relationships between them are verified with structural equation modelling. The results indicate that auditory factors such as natural soundscape significantly affect tourists’ emotion and behaviour in nature-based tourism. Emotion induced by natural soundscape can significantly improve tourists’ actual approach behaviour and behavioural intention in nature-based tourism. Different emotional dimension can elicit different behavioural type. Emotional arousal tends to trigger tourists’ actual approach behaviour, whereas emotional pleasure tends to encourage tourists’ behavioural intention. Actual approach behaviour in natural soundscape can significantly promote tourists’ behavioural intention. Based on these findings, valuable information for tourism managers on generating desirable tourist emotion and behaviour is offered.

KEYWORDS:

• Natural soundscape
• nature-based tourism
• tourist emotion
• tourist behaviour
• stimulus–organism–response model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Excellent young talents support program of Anhui province in China [grant number gxyqZD2020094]; the Youth Talent Project of Fu Yang Normal University [rcxm201912]; the Project of Humanities and Social Sciences of Education Ministry in China [grant number 19YJC790046]; the Humanities and Social Sciences Project of Anhui province in china [grant number SK2020ZD28]; Philosophy and Social Science Project of Anhui Province in China [grant number AHSHQ2018D21].