Beyond the correlation between tourist eudaimonic and hedonic experiences: necessary condition analysis

ABSTRACT

This study aims to theoretically and methodologically contribute to tourism research by testing the philosophical assumption that hedonia is a necessary condition of eudaimonia in the context of tourist experiences. Based on a review of existing literature, four tourist eudaimonic elements were selected for this study, including meaning, self-connectedness, accomplishment, and personal expressiveness. In addition, four hedonic elements were selected, including positive affect, negative affect, carefreeness, and hedonic enjoyment. The results statistically confirm that tourist hedonic experiences are necessary-but-not-sufficient for eudaimonic experiences. Contrary to our theoretical assumption, however, (low) negative affect could not be positioned as a necessary condition of eudaimonic experiences in tourists. This study empirically supports the necessary–sufficient relationship between hedonia and eudaimonia in the context of tourism. It contributes methodologically to the existing literature by testing the necessity condition between tourism-related constructs in a statistically rigorous way with a newly developed analysis method.

KEYWORDS:

• Eudaimonia
• hedonia
• necessary condition analysis
• tourist happiness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.