A construal level view of contemporary heritage tourism

Psychological distance is “a subjective experience that something is close or far away from the self, here, and now” (Trope & Liberman 2010, p.440). This research investigates heritage tourism from the perspective of Construal Level theory, which postulates that individuals mentally represent objects and events by adopting either low or high construal levels. We show that heritage tourism leads tourists to adopt a higher psychological distance and therefore a higher construal level. In turn, this higher construal negatively affects destination loyalty and perceived uniqueness. However, authenticity and engagement moderate the heritage–construal relationship, counterbalancing the higher psychological distance induced by heritage. We explore these relationships in two studies: Study 1 on 300 visitors of a WWII site; Study 2 on 250 tourists of a Cold War site. By focusing on contemporary heritage sites, the studies also seek to compare visitors’ mental representations of the experience, based on their autobiographical, vicarious, and collective memories. The paper concludes by addressing implications for theory and practice.