Elevating cultural celebrity endorsements’ impact in intangible cultural heritage tourism: role of generativity

Generativity and VAB Model

In the traditional view of midlife adults, the ability of generativity is regarded as an essential aspect of their personalities, defined as a desire to care and be concerned for the next generation (Lawford et al. 2005). Generativity reveals that, with age, people become more mindful of their mortality and the need to ensure a better future for younger generations (Gruenewald et al. 2012). Generativity ensures that unique cultural heritage is preserved and passed on to future generations, helping them to develop their unique identity. Consequently, research on generativity related to cultural heritage has focused on knowledge sharing, heritage tourism and museum participation (Luo and Ren 2020; Luo and Ye 2020; Lee et al. 2022; Wu et al. 2023). However, ICH tourism participation research has been limited.

Marketing and tourism research has commonly utilised the VAB model to examine the behavioural intentions of ICH tourism. The VAB model in its original formulation posits that values influence specific behaviours via attitudes towards behaviours (Homer et al. 1988). The critical antecedent in the VAB analysis is value, which ICH scholars have often viewed from two perspectives. The first perspective is the recognition of ICH’s value by various stakeholders. This concept of tangible value perception is derived from commodity value. This value, as a desirable criterion to guide individuals’ decisions and behaviour, refers to a fundamental standard customers use when making purchase decisions (Jun et al. 2014). The general public and tourists emphasise ICH’s aesthetic and practical value (Pan et al. 2016; Kurin 2018).

However, from the indigenous ontological perspective, the intangible values of ICH must be taken seriously because local ecological systems have cultural, spiritual and even religious significance beyond their biophysical characteristics (Manero et al. 2022). Consequently, another research perspective of ICH values is defined as a morally preferable, responsible individuals’ persistent belief in a particular behaviour or mode of conduct towards ICH (Rokeach 1973). For example, altruistic value refers to satisfaction from helping indigenous peoples and preserving their cultural heritage (Rolfe et al. 2003). Such intangible values are often assessed through the region, society, culture and moral benefit associated with specific ICH, such as place identity, national identity, cultural identity, social value and altruistic value (Yang et al. 2021; Choo et al. 2022; Zhang et al. 2022). Generativity is empirically characterised by social value orientation (Timilsina et al. 2019). According to the total economic value framework proposed by Segerson (2017), the benefit to the future generation can be classified as bequest value, which falls under the non-use value category in non-market valuation. However, generativity as an inherent human value, representing care for the next generation, is rarely discussed in the ICH domain.

To investigate personal consumption behaviour thoroughly, scholars have developed the VAB model with two different outcomes, namely, behavioural intentions (Luo and Ye 2020) and behaviour (Kim and Stepchenkova 2019; Luo and Ren 2020; Yang et al. 2021), which predict pre-consumption behaviour intentions and post-consumption actions, respectively. Positive behaviours, especially loyalty, can significantly impact ICHs’ long-term viability and competitiveness (Yang et al. 2021). Considering that satisfaction can indicate customer attitudes towards products and is a predictor of loyalty behaviour (Prajitmutita et al. 2016), the current study incorporates satisfaction and loyalty behaviour into the VAB models.

Two hypotheses are formulated as a result of the preceding discussion:

H1: Generativity is anticipated to have a positive effect on satisfaction.

H2: Satisfaction is anticipated to have a positive effect on loyalty behaviour.

Celebrity Involvement and Match-up Theory

Celebrities have been described as ‘intimate strangers’, whose accomplishments are widely publicised without them present (Schickel 1985). Given that celebrity fascination can be transferred to celebrity-related items, tourists’ involvement with celebrities creates a sense of familiarity with the related destinations, attractions, activities and tourism products (Lee et al. 2008). In celebrity-induced tourism, scholars have focused on the rationale behind the celebrity endorsement effect generated by different types of celebrities. As endorsers, sports or movie stars generate energy at the source of information, affecting preferences and meaning of product-related information and ultimately influencing the acceptance of products by consumers (Babin et al. 2016). Some heritage tourism operators carefully preserve records of celebrity visits to build a culturally influential brand and show off their precious cultural capital (Chen et al. 2017). Internet celebrities on online platforms can help tourism products or brands reach a fragmented audience and niche market through social media rather than broadcast media (Brooks et al. 2021; Wu, Tong, et al. 2021). Although sports and entertainment stars may have a significant appeal to tourism marketers, some academics caution that other celebrities may appeal differently to the general public. Literary celebrities’ knowledge of destinations and their cultures should be emphasised because their related tourism products and services may be tailored to meet tourists’ specific needs and tastes, thereby extending beyond favourable appearance (Chen et al. 2021). Frequent visits by political celebrities can bring an unusual celebrity endorsement effect to China’s red tourism, leading to local governments and residents becoming powerless stakeholders (Zhao et al. 2015). Historical and cultural celebrities have withstood the test of time and often exerted a more enduring cultural, educational and economic influence, as well as a more profound impact on tourism, compared with modern celebrities (Gao et al. 2022).

In practice, ICH inheritors are a non-entertainment cultural celebrity resource. As significant stakeholders in the ICH domain, they are more willing to promote ICH tourism than any other celebrity. In the 2003 ICH safeguarding convention, UNESCO stated that ICH inheritors are the primary carriers of their related ICH. Research at this stage has identified two main reasons for the ability of ICH inheritors to become celebrities and create a celebrity endorsement effect. Firstly, ICH inheritors are already world-renowned celebrities of traditional arts and have a heavy role in nurturing cultural heritage and shaping the tourism competitiveness of their respective cities. For example, leveraging the influence of Cantonese opera celebrities could enhance the promotion of Cantonese opera as a tourism asset in the Greater Bay Area (Luo 2022). Secondly, given the government’s commitment to ICH conservation and the development of ICH tourism, an increasing number of people are becoming aware of the inheritors. The inheritors have received numerous awards and have been widely featured in the media, leading to public recognition and the opportunity to participate in decisions on cultural heritage domains (Su, Wall, et al. 2020). However, research on the celebrity endorsement effect of ICH inheritors has been minimal, and the impact of such celebrity endorsements on tourists involved in ICH tourism is still unknown.

An opportunity to meet celebrities generates precious memories whilst addressing the shifting paradigm towards an experience-centric economy. Consequently, current research focuses on the role of the heir’s participatory behaviour in facilitating the marketing process of tourism products. Balmer et al. (2016) showed that Tong Ren Tang’s enduring reputation as a corporate heritage brand and celebrity status is deeply imprinted in the national consciousness, contributing to the fact that Tong Ren Tang, as the ICH inheritor of Chinese traditional medicine, has become an essential corporate heritage tourism brand and attraction. Guo et al. (2022) found that the immersive narrative experience will enable tourists to achieve self-congruity with the ICH narrators and encourage them to purchase ICH products following the experience, thereby explaining the tendency for retailers to select outstanding ICH inheritors in tourism destinations to serve as ICH narrators. Guo et al. (2023) indicated that ICH souvenir retailers should encourage ICH inheritors to endorse their products and creations because tourists’ purchase intentions and perceived authenticity are positively correlated with the consistency of ICH inheritors with souvenirs. However, minimal research has been conducted to explore the factors influencing celebrity endorsements of ICH inheritors. Accordingly, discovering this factor is essential to make ICH inheritors’ endorsements markedly effective and to design a targeted marketing strategy.

We are inspired by existing research and consider that match-up theory can be the fundamental theory to determine the factors influencing celebrity endorsements generated by ICH inheritors. Match-up theory demonstrates that celebrity endorsement is most effective when endorsers and products consistently match, and tourism products are no exception to this rule (Zhang et al. 2020). Many of the factors influencing the ‘match-up’ between celebrities and tourism products have been explored, such as image congruence (Yang, Zhang, et al. 2022), value congruence (Kim et al. 2014), altruistic motive congruence (Park et al. 2015) and product source congruence (Guo et al. 2023). However, the advancement of match-up theory research in marketing has resulted in the congruent relationship between celebrities and consumers becoming a significant factor that cannot be disregarded. An explanatory model of celebrity endorser effects incorporating consumer congruence with celebrity image has been demonstrated to effectively explain the impact of celebrity endorsement (Choi et al. 2012). In tourism, only nationality consistency between entertainment celebrities and tourists has been discussed; other factors related to them need to be further discussed (Liu et al. 2023). According to Pearce (2000), inheritors of ICH should serve human civilisation by adapting traditional culture to the current system rather than simply inheriting a typical inheritance. That is, sense of mission and responsibility provides inheritors with an inherent sense of personal generativity value. Therefore, generativity consistency can drive the match-up of tourists and inheritors, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of inheritors’ celebrity endorsement.

Celebrity involvement has been proven to be one of the critical traits of practical celebrity endorsement (Yang 2018). Celebrity involvement in tourism has been demonstrated to affect attitudes towards destinations and tourism products (Yen and Croy 2013). In this case, celebrity involvement with ICH inheritors may enhance ICH tourism satisfaction. According to previous studies showing that celebrity involvement influences visit intention, recommendation behaviour and revisit behaviour (Lee et al. 2008; Yen and Teng 2013; Zhu et al. 2022), celebrity involvement has also impacted loyalty behaviour.

Three hypotheses are formulated in light of the preceding discussion:

H3: Generativity is anticipated to have a positive effect on celebrity involvement.

H4: Celebrity involvement is anticipated to have a positive effect on satisfaction.

H5: Celebrity involvement is anticipated to have a positive effect on loyalty behaviour.

Perceived scarcity and commodity theory

Social psychology states that a scarce commodity is perceived as more valuable than readily available (Gierl et al. 2010). The scarcity principle implies that ‘what is scarce is good’ (Dijksterhuis et al. 2005). Commodity theory is an accepted method of explaining the aforementioned psychological phenomenon surrounding scarcity in marketing research because its primary principle proposes that a commodity’s value will be determined by its unavailability (Lynn 1991).

Previous research has suggested that perceived scarcity is shaped by subjective reasons arising from the internal psychology of individuals and by the objective reasons arising from realistic resource constraints (Wicker et al. 2021). The most significant subjective scarcity stems from personal values and consumption motivation. Under conditions of scarcity, consumers show different patterns of response based on their motivations for gaining knowledge (Suri et al. 2007). Meanwhile, consumers’ personal values reflect their motivation. Particularly, hedonistic consumers prefer conspicuous consumption, in which commodities symbolise status and express conformity to exclusive social groups (Gierl et al. 2010). The situation is similar to that of the consumption of art and cultural products. Consumers’ perceived scarcity of artwork can only be formed if they already have preliminary knowledge of the artwork beforehand (Lynn 1989). In ICH tourism, tourists who identify more strongly with a culture are likelier to believe that they belong to a particular cultural group, accentuating the perceived scarcity of products associated with that culture (Zhang et al. 2022). ICH tourists’ ascribed responsibilities are positively correlated with their personal norms (Hsu et al. 2022). No research has been conducted on the relationship between generativity and perceived scarcity in the ICH context. However, individuals with high levels of generativity, who belong to a group concerned about the next generation and responsible for preserving ICH, are expected to develop a considerably strong appreciation and scarcity of ICH. Meanwhile, they will readily absorb substantial information on ICH, enabling them to pass along their intangible personal legacy. Hence, generativity affects tourists’ perception of scarcity towards ICH.

For the objective perception of scarcity, the realistic resource limitation caused by celebrity endorsement is considered an important aspect that cannot be disregarded. Firstly, marketing tools create such a scarcity. The limited quantity of products with luxury packages, celebrity endorsements and massive advertisements enhance the perception of uniqueness and scarcity (Aggarwal et al. 2011). Secondly, the scarcity of celebrity resources is also an objective fact. Fascination with celebrated people has long existed amongst humans. According to Shapiro et al. (2017), an increase in attendance can be attributed to star players’ final years of competition. Indexical items, which have a direct connection to celebrities, had a greater expected scarcity and significantly more value after the death of stars (Radford et al. 2012). Similarly, ICH inheritors with many valuable skills and experience face scarcity owing to aging or death, particularly if the current generation no longer inherits their crafts and expertise (Tan et al. 2019). Consequently, individuals with strong emotional attachments to ICH inheritors are expected to have a strongly perceived scarcity towards ICH. As a result of the preceding discussion, two hypotheses are formulated:

H6: Generativity is anticipated to have a positive effect on perceived scarcity.

H7: Celebrity involvement is anticipated to have a positive effect on perceived scarcity.

Scarce or inaccessible commodities are more appealing to consumers than abundant and accessible ones (Cialdini 2002). Previous studies have verified that perceived scarcity impacts consumers’ attitudes, emotions and behavioural intentions. Amaldoss et al. (2005) verified that consumers could be markedly satisfied by scarcity in the long run, particularly if they require uniqueness amongst the general public and conformity within prestigious groups. Kaur et al. (2022) confirmed that scarcity could create a positive attitude and increase purchase intention towards organic food products. Similar results have been proven in different product contexts, such as luxury goods (Rosendo-Rios et al. 2023), e-commerce (Chen et al. 2022) and ICH products (Zhang et al. 2022). Our study focuses on ICH’s intangible commodity properties because commodities are regarded as experiences or objects with intangible and tangible properties. This focus is in contrast to previous studies. In light of the preceding discussion, two hypotheses are formulated:

H8: Perceived scarcity is anticipated to have a positive effect on satisfaction.

H9: Perceived scarcity is anticipated to have a positive effect on loyalty behaviour.

This study uses the preceding analysis in applying the VAB model, match-up theory and commodity theory to explore tourist behaviour in ICH tourism. The three frameworks represent the perspectives of tourists, cultural celebrities and marketers. Commodity theory explains how the perceived scarcity of ICH products impacts tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty. The scarcity principle encourages tourists to engage deeply with these cultural experiences. Match-up theory shows how the alignment between cultural celebrities and tourists’ values improves marketing. This alignment creates considerably strong connections between tourists and cultural heritage. The VAB model connects the two theories by linking tourists’ personal values to their attitudes and behaviours. This model focuses on emotional and value-based decisions rather than purely rational ones. The theoretical framework of this study is shown in Fig. 1 and is based on H1–H9.