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ABSTRACT
This study investigates the subjective well-being of Chinese rural-urban migrants by examining the effects of nostalgia and perceived authenticity in the context of rural tourism. Founded on the concepts of tourist motivation and nostalgia and drawn on selected Chinese philosophical values, this study identifies the unique Chinese philosophical value of ‘old home’ as the key factor of motivation for migrants returning to rural destinations. Rural-urban migrants deem rural regions, as well as, mentalities, cultures, and environments in general, as their cultural and spiritual hometowns. The study also reveals that migrants pursue authentic rural destinations, which would have an emotional and memorable appeal, because it stimulates their nostalgic feelings. The study proposes the necessity of investigating Chinese issues through the lens of Chinese philosophical values and invokes an age-old value to understand their perception process of authenticity: ‘one can't have fish and bear at the same time.’ Returning to rural destinations improves these tourists’ subjective well-being because they achieve an important lifetime goal based on their traditional Chinese philosophical value of ‘searching for ancestral roots.’ The study suggests that preserving rural authenticity can improve the social and cultural welfare of hosting communities and the subjective well-being of tourists.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Dr. Zhenhao (Mark) Meng is an assistant professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the School of Business at Indiana University Kokomo, USA. He completed his Ph.D. at Purdue University, USA and his Master at University College Cork, Ireland. Dr. Meng's research interests lie in the area of tourism management, ranging from rural tourism to cultural tourism. He is particularly interested in food and beverage management and the health benefit of travel. Dr. Meng has served on the board of International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators.
Liping A. Cai is Professor and Director of Purdue Tourism and Hospitality Research Center at Purdue University, USA. He originated the cooperative branding model for rural tourism and currently studies the intersections among tourism, intercultural learning, and quality of life. He received Purdue University's designation of Faculty Fellow in 2003 and is a life-time achievement awardee of International Society of Travel & Tourism Educators. He has served on the Tourism Council of the State of Indiana, USA, since 2008.
Dr Jonathon Day, an Associate Professor in Purdue's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, is committed to ensuring tourism is a force for good in the world. In addition to over 25 academic articles and chapters, he is the author of ‘Introduction to Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Travel’ and co-author of ‘The Tourism System 8th Edition’. Dr Day's research interests focus on sustainable tourism, responsible travel, and strategic destination governance within the tourism system. He is interested in the role of business in solving grand challenges through corporate social responsibility programs and social entrepreneurship.
Dr. Chun-Hung (Hugo) Tang is an associate professor in School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University. Dr. Tang's research interest is in the interaction between financial risk, operations management, and consumer response to pricing. His works have been awarded the W. Bradford Wiley Memorial Best Research Paper of the Year and the Best Paper at the Graduate Conference in Hospitality and Tourism. Dr. Tang has taught courses in finance, accounting, and revenue management. He twice received the Bruce I. Lazarus Undergraduate Teaching Award in the School of HTM at Purdue.
Dr. Ying (Tracy) Lu is an associate professor at the Department of Retailing and Tourism Management, University of Kentucky, USA. Her research focuses on consumer behaviors in service settings, particularly on the topics of customer engagement, loyalty, and interactive experiences of attendees in events and travel destinations. Dr. Lu has published more than fifty refereed publications in leading journals and conference proceedings. Her expertise has been sought by institutions and consulting companies in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Mainland China and Macau SAR. Dr. Lu is the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Hospitality and Event Management (IJHEM).
Hongmei Zhang is Professor in School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, China. Her research interests include tourism destination marketing, tourist behavior, and destination environment management. Her current research focus includes tourists’ environmental responsible behavior, value co-creation, and national park management. She has been in charge of more than twenty projects granted by national and provincial/departmental institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China. She has published six books and over 60 papers on journals at home and abroad, including Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management etc.