Ritual interaction in heritage tourism to cultural experience: an affective perspective

Interaction ritual chain (IRC) theory in tourism research has focused on theoretical development, yet how specific internal factors influence tourists’ emotions remains unclear. This study aims to develop and validate a Memorable Cultural Tourism Experience (MCTE) scale while examining the effects of ritual interaction (RI) elements on both emotional components of MCTE and tourist behaviors. Employing SOR framework, we propose a model where RI elements influence tourists’ emotional engagement, with immersion and situational resonance as mediators and cultural familiarity as moderators. A scale was developed, followed by two empirical studies (questionnaire and experiment) to test the model and validate the scale. Results supported all hypotheses. Theoretical contributions include advancing the IRC theory through the development of the MCTE scale and demonstrating the moderating effect of cultural familiarity on immersion and situational resonance. From a practical perspective, the findings offer actionable strategies for designing tourism experiences that foster emotional engagement and memorability.