1. Introduction
The development of rural tourism helps to increase the non-agricultural income of residents, promote the realization of rural revitalization, and strengthen the sustainable development of rural areas [
1,
2]. In recent years, the income level of people in China has increased. Along with a series of negative impacts on people’s lives created by the development of urbanization, the attraction of rural tourism is growing [
3]. China’s rural tourism has also induced a period of booming development. Especially during COVID-19, rural tourism has become the preferred destination for Chinese tourists’ leisure and vacation [
3]. In 2019, China’s rural leisure tourism industry received 3.3 billion tourists, with an operating income of more than CNY 850 billion [
4]. In China’s rural tourism industry, the development trend of Zhejiang Province is particularly good. Receiving 570 million tourists, rural tourism accounted for 65% in Zhejiang Province in 2020, realizing a total income of CNY 43.13 billion from tourism operations and employing 446,000 people [
5]. In 2021, Yucun Village in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, became one of the “Best Tourism Villages of 2021 by United Nations World Tourism Organization”, which indicates that it is one of the best choices according to Chinese rural tourists. Zhejiang villages have become an “important window” to show China’s rural tourism to the world [
5].
Rural tourism has always been an important area of tourism academic research, but the academic community has not yet formed a unified perception of the definition of rural tourism. The current broadest understanding is tourism activities in non-urban areas or rural areas [
6]. In this context, rural areas refer to spaces that are remote from urban areas and can be further distinguished from urban areas by a number of indicators, including population density, demographics, commuting patterns, migration, and proximity to population centers of various sizes [
7]. Rural tourism in tourism research is defined as benefiting the local economy and society by showcasing the rural life, art, culture, and heritage of rural areas and enriching the tourism experience through the interaction between tourists and locals [
8]. Over the years, several scholars have studied rural tourism from the rural tourism motivation [
9,
10,
11,
12], rural tourism experience [
1,
13,
14,
15], rural tourism from the perspective of rural residents [
16,
17,
18,
19], rural tourism development [
20,
21,
22,
23], and changes created by rural tourism [
24,
25,
26,
27]. These studies have laid a sufficient theoretical foundation for this research.
Culture is one of the important attributes of a destination [
28], and regional cultural elements can lead to changes in the regional cultural atmosphere [
29]. With the promotion of the general trend of integrated development of culture and tourism, regional culture has become an essential resource element in tourism. The countryside is a place with cultural connotations [
7]. China’s countryside, with its long history and rich folk culture, has the potential and market for the development of cultural tourism. Therefore, the degree of cultural development is bound to impact the development of rural tourism [
30]. Tang and Xu (2023) believed that tourism activities that integrate local resources and culture in the countryside have a unique attraction to tourists [
31]. Cultural elements are the tangible embodiment of regional culture, which can enrich tourists’ experience and satisfy their spiritual needs. In contrast, cultural value expresses tourists’ perceptions and evaluations of regional cultural elements [
32]. However, in the study of perceived value, few researchers have explored the cultural value, and more research has been conducted on the impact of regional culture on tourists’ satisfaction [
33,
34] and behavioral intention [
35], which indicates a lack of research on the possible impact of the cultural value on tourists’ place identity and behavioral intention in tourism destinations. In the tourism literature, the relationship between the three dimensions of perceived value, place identity, and behavioral intention has been identified by research [
36,
37]. However, fewer studies have been conducted on all three dimensions simultaneously [
38]. Therefore, based on several studies on organizational culture, this study introduced cultural value as one of the components of perceived value and investigated its impact on tourists’ place identity and behavioral intention, thus enriching the content of the research field, which is also the main contribution of this paper.
Based on the above viewpoints, this study proposes a research model of rural tourists’ behavioral intention in Zhejiang Province based on Attitude Theory, and the conceptual model includes tourists’ perceived value, place identity, and behavioral intention. At the theoretical level, this study verifies the applicability of Attitude Theory in the field of rural tourism research and elaborates on the theoretical logic of generating behavioral intentions among rural tourists in Zhejiang Province. In addition, this study introduces cultural value as one of the variables of perceived value research. It investigates its potential impact on tourists’ place identity and behavioral intention, which enriches the dimension of theoretical research in this area. At the practical level, this study focuses on rural tourism development in Zhejiang Province, China. The selected Zhejiang villages serve as research cases, providing valuable insights for tourism enterprises (refers to those enterprises that specialize in providing tourism-related services or products), as well as the government, to formulate effective policies. This will help to achieve the vision of improving and upgrading the quality of China’s tourism industry, promoting the sustainable development of rural tourism.
5. Discussion and Conclusions
5.1. Discussion
First, H1a–H1d confirmed that emotional value, social value, value for money, and cultural value all positively influenced place identity, which was consistent with the results of previous research on the relationship between perceived value and place identity [
44]. As seen in the correlation coefficient, social value and cultural value had a higher degree of influence on place identity. It was confirmed that socialization is one of the main motives of rural tourists [
10], and socialization and nostalgia were the key factors influencing the subjective well-being of Chinese rural tourists [
95]. In typical rural tourism, interpersonal interactions during socialization can fully satisfy tourists’ needs for nostalgic experiences and social relationships [
96]. Therefore, China’s rural tourism can satisfy the social value of the attributes to attract many tourists, which was in line with the viewpoint of this study. In the process of China’s urbanization, many rural people migrated to the cities, and therefore, rural areas also bore a lot of tourists’ emotional needs [
96]. The current study argued that rural tourism can enhance tourists’ social identity (increase their perceived level of social value), promoting their place identity with rural areas. Similarly, in different cultural contexts, tourists experienced different environments and human and interactive elements, and culture was a key factor in distinguishing different rural tourism destinations [
97]. This study found that the cultural value of the perceived value dimension has the greatest impact on place identity, indicating that Chinese rural tourists now pay more attention to culture when choosing rural destinations. It also showed that the Zhejiang provincial government achieved initial success in the excavation of rural culture and that the creation of a congenial atmosphere and the development of cultural heritage can promote tourists’ positive emotions toward tourist destinations, which in turn leads to the emergence of place identity among tourists.
Second, H2a–H2d confirmed that emotional value, social value, value for money, and cultural value all positively influenced tourists’ behavioral intention, which was consistent with the results of previous research on the relationship between perceived value and behavioral intention [
71]. As seen in the correlation coefficient, emotional value, social value, and value for money had approximately the same degree of influence on behavioral intention, and cultural value had the highest degree of influence on tourists’ behavioral intention. Previous studies have shown that culture is an important and indispensable factor for rural tourism to flourish and that dispensing culture in tourism development hinders the sustainable development of local tourism [
98]. Culture has a great influence on tourists’ tourism experience; that is, regional culture has a certain influence on tourists’ experience, which in turn affects their future behavioral choices [
99,
100]. About 70% of cultural resources are identified in China’s rural areas, making them highly valuable for cultural tourism development. It is important to note the potential for development in these areas while also acknowledging their cultural significance. In recent years, China has paid more attention to the integration of culture and tourism, especially in the field of rural tourism. A series of relevant documents has been issued to explore rural culture and promote tourism development and rural prosperity. This study found that cultural value is the most influential factor in tourists’ behavioral intention. This suggested that Chinese rural tourists increasingly value cultural experience in tourism and that improving the cultural atmosphere and developing regional culture in rural tourism destinations is conducive to promoting local tourists’ intention to revisit, share, and recommend the destination, leading to tourist growth and sustainable development of the tourism destination.
Third, H3 and H4a–H4d confirmed that place identity positively influenced tourists’ behavioral intention and its mediating role between tourists’ perceived value and behavioral intention, which is consistent with the results of previous research [
74,
75]. Additionally, this study found that tourists’ positive emotions are important predictors of their positive behavior. When tourists develop a sense of identification with a place, they are more likely to revisit, share, and recommend it. This conclusion was also found to be true for rural tourists in Zhejiang Province. Place identity partially mediated the relationship between emotional value, social value, value for money, cultural value, and behavioral intention. Moreover, this study demonstrated that the perceived value of a rural tourist destination has a direct impact on tourists’ behavioral intentions, including their intention to revisit, share, and recommend the place by influencing their emotions toward it. This study confirmed that place identity plays a crucial role as a mediating variable in the relationship between tourists’ perceived value and their behavioral intention, and the findings applied to rural tourists in Zhejiang Province.
5.2. Theoretical Contributions
Rural tourism is widely acknowledged as a crucial strategy for promoting rural development in China [
101], and rural tourists are believed to play a vital role in promoting rural tourism. Therefore, investigating the behavioral intentions of rural tourists is meaningful and beneficial to the development of the China’s countryside. The main theoretical contribution of the study is the development of the research model to investigate China’s rural tourism development.
This study developed a structural research model based on Attitude Theory and used the PLS method to test the proposed model. Specifically, this study examined the relationship among perceived value, place identity, and behavioral intention of rural tourists in Zhejiang Province. Three main conclusions were drawn. The first was to verify the applicability of attitude theory in rural tourism research. The empirical test demonstrated the hierarchical relationship between the three dimensions of tourists’ perceived value, place identity, and behavioral intention, and verified the effectiveness of attitude theory in predicting tourists’ behavioral intention. It offered a fresh perspective on the correlation between tourists’ perceived value, place identity, and behavioral intention, enriched the research methodology of tourism and behavioral science and provided a deeper understanding of the decision-making process of tourists. Second, this study incorporated cultural value as a measurement dimension of rural tourists’ perceived value, confirming its significance as an antecedent variable of place identity. It is important to note that tourists’ perceived value can directly impact their behavioral intention, as well as their place identity. Data analysis revealed that cultural value had the greatest influence on tourists’ place identity and behavioral intention. Additionally, it was found that the cultural awareness of rural tourists in Zhejiang Province has improved. These findings provided new insights for research on integrating rural culture and tourism in Zhejiang Province. Finally, this study combined the concepts of structural equation modeling, attitude theory, and place identity to conduct an interdisciplinary study. The interdisciplinary approach synthesized knowledge and theories from different disciplines, promoted cross-disciplinary research in tourism, and provided a more comprehensive perspective for tourism research.
5.3. Managerial Implications
This study aims to promote the development of rural tourism in Zhejiang by raising awareness among relevant departments and enterprises about the cultural value of tourist destinations and the importance of tourists’ sense of belonging and identity. The ultimate goal is to provide a benchmark and model for improvement and upgrading China’s rural tourism industry in conjunction with the research results.
On the one hand, the importance of cultural value should be properly recognized. Research has shown that cultural value is the dimension of perceived value that has the greatest influence on place identity and behavioral intention, and culture is also a key component of tourism development in China at this stage. Correctly recognizing the importance of cultural value for tourists can help protect and inherit rural culture and promote the sustainable development of rural tourism. First of all, we should actively carry out the cultural development of rural tourism sites, including history, folklore, art, and architecture. Cultural elements with uniqueness and attractiveness should be identified to improve the competitive differences between rural tourism destinations. Second, the existing tourism development should pay attention to the protection and inheritance of rural culture, avoid excessive commercialization, and maintain the originality and authenticity of rural culture. Finally, it is necessary to innovate cultural tourism products based on inheritance, combining the characteristics of rural culture and innovating rural tourism products, such as cultural experience, folk performance, and handicraft production. In this way, we can enrich the atmosphere of cultural experience, attract more tourists to come and experience rural destinations, and promote the sustainable development of rural tourism.
On the other hand, the importance of tourists’ sense of belonging and identity should be properly recognized. This study has shown that place identity has an obvious influence on the behavioral intention of tourists in rural tourism destinations, and place identity is considered to be a kind of positive emotional feedback to the tourism destination, which can enhance the satisfaction and loyalty of tourists. First of all, tourism destination-related parties should strengthen interaction with tourists. Through interaction and communication with tourists, such parties can understand tourists’ needs and feedback, introduce tourists to the process of tourism destination improvement through the concept of value co-creation, continuously improve tourism products and services, and enhance tourists’ service experience. Second, the construction of a humanized tourism environment should be strengthened. People involved in such a process should focus on details and humanized design in tourism facilities, services, and other aspects to create a warm, friendly tourism environment to meet the emotional and social needs of tourists and ensure they feel the warmth of home. Finally, the different consumption needs of different consumer groups should be clarified. Through market research and analysis, the needs and preferences of target tourist groups should be clarified, and different tourism products and services should be designed for different tourist groups to improve the satisfaction and loyalty of customer groups in different market segments.
To summarize, the relevant government departments should actively formulate a series of policies and regulations to support the protection and development of rural tourism culture, and continuously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the policies to ensure the implementation of the policy provisions. Relevant localities and enterprises should strengthen the concept of integrated development of rural tourism and culture, and strive to improve the experience and satisfaction of tourists. It is hoped that these measures will promote the healthy and sustainable development of rural tourism.
5.4. Limitations and Prospects
Future studies may consider addressing some of this study’s limitations to enhance the generalization of the study results. First, the sample was collected through an online survey, which may introduce bias towards certain groups of tourists. This may limit the representativeness of the sample for all rural tourists. Future research can consider combining online and offline surveys to achieve a more comprehensive sample. Secondly, the study’s sample size was sufficient for PLS-SEM testing, but overall it was still limited. To reduce research errors, subsequent studies may consider enlarging the number of surveyed tourists and incorporate other research methods to further improve the credibility and reliability of the study. Thirdly, though Zhejiang is not large in terms of land size, there may still be some segments of rural tourism. Thus, future research may consider the segmentation issue and further enhance the usability of study findings. Fourthly, the study’s findings may not be generalizable as only tourists from mainland China were selected. To improve the application of the findings in different cultural contexts, subsequent studies should include tourists from different regions. In addition, based on the PLS-SEM research methodology, this study chose linear regression to test the relationships between the regression variables at each level rather than a multiple regression, so there is a risk of omitted variable bias, which may lead to biased estimates in the simple regression. Future studies could consider constructing composite indicators and regressing the relationships between variables at each level through multiple regressions to minimize the impact of omitted variable bias. It is also hoped that future authors will extend the model by adopting other theories [
102,
103] or constructs [
104,
105].