A framework for analysing awe in tourism experiences

Abstract

“Awesome” is arguably one of the most desirable experiential accolades for both tourists and tourism providers. To achieve this accolade, a tourist product or place must elicit a sense of awe. Both for commercial tourism marketing purposes and for analyses of tourism experiences, the ability to understand and measure awe is important yet poorly understood. Indeed, Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982, Faullant et al., 2011 warn that attendant service literature research, including tourism studies, often focuses only on higher-order dimensions (pleasure-arousal, negative-positive) believed to influence satisfaction, post-visit behavior, intentions and attitudes. Much less attention has been paid to the full range of affective states described by Russel (1980) and others (e.g. Johnson-Laird and Oatley, 1989, Otto and Ritchie, 1996). Here, we establish a framework for analysing awe in tourism and identify key components relevant to tourism experiences.