Abstract
This research examines the effects of localizing cultural values on perceived image and willingness to visit a heritage site. Using Collectivism-Individualism and Power Distance, two preregistered experiments were conducted with a total of 2039 respondents from Portugal and United Kingdom. In Study 1, against expectations, culturally incongruent webpage content expressing low (vs. high) Power Distance generates a higher willingness to visit among Portuguese participants. In Study 2, localized webpage content expressing Individualism (vs. Collectivism) leads to a higher willingness to visit among UK respondents, with the mediation of perceived image. Neither experiment shows an effect of the stimuli on perceived image. Findings suggest limited benefits of localization for heritage promotion and a high tolerance of participants toward incongruent cultural values.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 300-316 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Journal of Heritage Tourism |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 24 Jun 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
Funding
This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung) under [grant number 184140]. The first author would like to acknowledge and thank the Department of Communication Science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for hosting him and for the help received to elaborate this study.
