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Current research focuses primarily on two pivotal aspects: elucidating the relationship between historical nostalgic atmospheres and revisit intentions and deciphering their underlying causal mechanisms. However, extant studies predominantly adopt a cognitive-motivational perspective, overlooking the affective appraisal mechanisms governing revisit intention formation. To fill this void, this study used cognitive appraisal theory to develop a theoretical framework that incorporates both affective and cognitive states and processes. Data were collected via a field questionnaire survey from 391 industrial heritage tourists in China and further analysed using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 26.0. The results reveal that (1) the nostalgic atmosphere directly affects tourists' revisit intention and also indirectly affects it by stimulating perceived authenticity and positive emotions. (2) The chain mediating effect of perceived authenticity and positive emotions was significant. (3) Prior knowledge moderates the relationship between the nostalgic atmosphere and perceived authenticity and simultaneously moderates the mediating role of positive emotions between the nostalgic atmosphere and revisit intentions. The study contributes to the theories on nostalgia and the management of industrial heritage tourism.
Li et al. (Tue,) studied this question.