Investigating the relationships among perceived value, satisfaction, and recommendations: The case of the Korean DMZ

This study examines tourist values concerning war-related tourism. Specifically, it proposes a theoretical model of tourists’ DMZ tour-perceived value, and empirically tests the constructs that are likely to affect DMZ tour satisfaction, which in turn influences tourists’ recommending DMZ tours to others. Multiple dimensions of perceived value are developed for the Korean DMZ as a tourism destination, and how that value influences visitors’ satisfaction and recommendations to others is investigated, using a structural equation model. A total of 472 questionnaires were collected from onsite surveys. A confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) procedure were performed by utilizing LISREL procedures.The empirical results of the SEM model indicate that all of the underlying dimensions of tourist's DMZ-perceived value (functional, overall and emotional value) have a significant effect on DMZ tour satisfaction. The influence of DMZ tour satisfaction on the recommendations of DMZ tours to others was also found to be statistically significant.