The effect of Sachsenhausen visitors' personality and emotions on meaning and word of mouth

J Nawijn, M Brüggemann, O Mitas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)
550 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of visitors' personality and emotional response on finding positive meaning in life and the intention to spread positive word of mouth. The sample (n = 260) consists of visitors to Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum near Berlin. Findings indicate that the emotion of interest positively contributes to finding positive meaning in life and positive word of mouth. The effects of personality are marginal. Personality explains little of the variance in positive meaning and positive word of mouth. Emotional response accounts for 25% of the variance in finding positive meaning in life-in terms of finding personal benefit from the visit, controlled for personality. Despite the dominant negative emotional response, tourists find positive meaning in their visit. These findings correspond with those observed in studies on personal trauma and loss. Positive meaning could potentially contribute to adjustment processes to cope with what occurred. Future research should include address longer term effects on postvisit behavior.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)349-359
Number of pages11
JournalTourism Analysis
Volume22
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Cultural heritage
  • Dark tourism
  • Emotions
  • Meaning in life
  • Tourist experiences

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