A Comparative Study on Satisfaction and Revisit Intention by Motivation Types of Garden Expo Visitors

This study aimed to analyze differences in usage behavior, satisfaction, and revisit intention according to motivation types of garden expo visitors, and to examine how the impact of satisfaction on revisit intention varies by motivation type. An online survey was conducted with 166 respondents who had visited garden expos, and they were classified into cognitive-seeking type (22.9%), affective-seeking type (47.6%), and social-seeking type (29.5%) based on their visit motivations. The main findings are as follows: First, significant differences were found in preferred visiting season (χ²= 16.837, p = 0.032), transportation means (χ²= 19.742, p = 0.032), and companion type (χ²= 49.802, p < 0.001) according to motivation types. The social-seeking type showed a distinct pattern of visiting in spring with family by private vehicle (95.9% family companion), while the cognitive-seeking type utilized diverse companion types and transportation means. Second, exploratory factor analysis revealed that satisfaction was structured into three factors: affective relaxation (29.9%), cognitive learning (20.3%), and social experience (18.7%) (KMO = 0.903). Third, no statistically significant differences were found in mean satisfaction and revisit intention across motivation types. Fourth, satisfaction had a significant positive effect on revisit intention (β = 0.557, p < 0.001), and this effect was significant for all three types—cognitive-seeking (β = 0.672), affective-seeking (β = 0.525), and social-seeking (β = 0.454)—though Fisher’s Z transformation showed that differences in path coefficients were not statistically significant. Fifth, the influence of specific satisfaction factors was differentiated: cognitive learning had the strongest effect for the cognitive-seeking type (β = 0.521, p < 0.001), while affective relaxation had the strongest effect for both affective-seeking and social-seeking types (β = 0.422 and β = 0.387, respectively). These findings suggest that enhancing overall visitor satisfaction is a universal strategy for promoting revisit intention. For differentiated approaches by motivation type, strengthening educational programs on plants and horticulture for the cognitive-seeking type, expanding relaxation and healing spaces for the affective-seeking type, and creating family-friendly experience environments for the social-seeking type are recommended.