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Making memories: a consumer-based model of authenticity applied to living history sites

Muhammet Kesgin (Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA)
Babak Taheri (Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK)
Rajendran S. Murthy (Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA)
Juilee Decker (College of Liberal Arts, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA)
Martin Joseph Gannon (Business School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK)

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 16 August 2021

Issue publication date: 20 October 2021

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Abstract

Purpose

Underpinned by the consumer-based model of authenticity (CBA), this study aims to investigate whether leisure involvement, object-based and existential authenticity, host sincerity and engagement stimulate positive memorable visitor experiences in a distinctive commercial hospitality setting: a living history site.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative data were gathered from living history site visitors (n = 1,004), with partial least squares structural equation modeling used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

The results confirm the inclusion of the hypothesized relationships between leisure involvement, sincerity and authenticity, relative to engagement and subsequent memorability. The findings suggest that engagement can be a predictor of a positive memorable experience, contingent on CBA constructs (sincerity; object-based authenticity; existential authenticity). The significant association between object-based authenticity and memorable experience identified herein differs from some published studies, while other results are broadly consistent with extant research. Results also reveal significant differences for visitors who purchased souvenirs when compared to those who did not.

Research limitations/implications

The research extends the CBA by positing sincere hospitality as a relationship-based encounter between host and guest that influences social interaction, engagement and memorability within the novel living history site context. Further, the ability to differentiate visitors based on their purchases at the site is illustrated.

Originality/value

Given the ubiquity of engagement and authenticity as precursors to memorable experiences within contemporary commercial hospitality and heritage discourses, the findings apply to hospitality experiences beyond the living history site context examined herein.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a research stipend from the RIT-GCV&M Partnership Fund in the College of Liberal Arts, the J. Warren McClure Endowment at the Saunders College of Business, and the College of Engineering Technology at the Rochester Institute of Technology (2018). We would like to thank the Genesee Country Village & Museum for access to the museum and for allowing data collection on site.

Citation

Kesgin, M., Taheri, B., Murthy, R.S., Decker, J. and Gannon, M.J. (2021), "Making memories: a consumer-based model of authenticity applied to living history sites", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 33 No. 10, pp. 3610-3635. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2020-1467

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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