Tourists’ visit intention toward “libraries + cultural tourism”: a stimulus-organism-response perspective

Purpose This study aims to investigate the factors that affect the tourists’ intention to visit “Libraries + cultural tourism (LCT)” and enhance the quality of LCT to attract tourists. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted with 249 LCT tourists in China. By integrating LCT characteristics into the stimulus-organism-response framework, a research model was developed to examine the factors that predict tourists’ intention to visit LCT. The research model was tested using AMOS 24.0. Findings The results show that social function significantly influences tourists’ flow experience, which in turn affects their intention to visit LCT. Entertainment function and knowledge seeking function have significant impacts on tourists’ social presence, flow experience and perceived knowledge value, which further affect their intention to visit LCT. Flow experience is the strongest predictor of visit intention than social presence and perceived knowledge value. In particular, social presence, flow experience and perceived knowledge value partially mediate the relationships between LCT functions and tourists’ visit intention. Originality/value This study contributes to the LCT literature by identifying key factors that drive tourists’ intention to visit LCT projects. The findings have practical implications for enhancing the popularity of LCT.