Perceived value and flow experience: Application in a nature-based tourism context

This study measured environmentally responsible behaviors and destination loyalty of international tourists who participated in an ecotourism tour package at Jeju Island, South Korea. A conceptual model was formulated and empirically tested to examine how tourists perceived values (i.e. quality, emotional, price, and social), flow experience, and satisfaction influence environmentally responsible behavior and destination loyalty. Three hundred responses to a survey of international tourists were collected and the resulting data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings indicated that perceived quality, emotional, and social values significantly affected flow experience and satisfaction. Further, flow experience was significantly and positively related to satisfaction, environmentally responsible behaviors, and destination loyalty. Tourist satisfaction only had positive effects on environmentally responsible behaviors and destination loyalty. Thus, enhancement of international tourists' value perceptions about eco-travel packages is the first step that will strengthen environmentally responsible behaviors and destination loyalty via increase in tourists' flow experience and satisfaction levels.