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Exploring Students’ Push and Pull Motivations to Visit Rural Educational Tourism Sites in China

Author

Listed:
  • Feifei Yang

    (Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Rajenthyran Ayavoo

    (Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Norazlin Ab Aziz

    (Department of Finance, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

Abstract

Educational tourism in rural areas promotes local employment, economic development, and poverty alleviation. Given that there is a lack of research on emerging and developing nations, this study adopted the viewpoint of an emerging country and empirically demonstrates the relationships of consumer behavior with education tourism in rural areas. In particular, the study focused on push-pull motivation factors and loyalty. The mediating role of overall satisfaction on the relationship between push-pull motivation and loyalty was also investigated. The study extracted questions from a sample of 234 students in China and quantitatively analyzed the data using a structural equation model (SEM). The results show that pull motivation factors contribute directly to loyalty, and push motivation was the strongest construct influencing loyalty through overall satisfaction. The results show that in this field, managers need to pay more attention to push and pull motivation at different marketing stages.

Suggested Citation

  • Feifei Yang & Rajenthyran Ayavoo & Norazlin Ab Aziz, 2023. "Exploring Students’ Push and Pull Motivations to Visit Rural Educational Tourism Sites in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-23, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:20:p:14739-:d:1257559
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Haoying Li & Jonas Østergaard Nielsen & Rui Chen, 2023. "Rural Entrepreneurship Development in Southwest China: A Spatiotemporal Analysis," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Soo, Kwok Tong & Elliott, Caroline, 2010. "Does price matter? Overseas students in UK higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 553-565, August.
    3. Mohamed-Abdullahi Mohamed & Asmat-Nizam Abdul-Talib, 2020. "Push–pull factors influencing international return migration intentions: a systematic literature review," Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(2), pages 231-246, May.
    4. Gundur Leo & Anthony Brien & Yackob Astor & Mukhamad Najib & Syifaa Novianti & Wahyu Rafdinal & Dwi Suhartanto, 2021. "Attraction loyalty, destination loyalty, and motivation: agritourist perspective," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(9), pages 1244-1256, May.
    5. Lee, Sangjae & Jeon, Sungil & Kim, Doyoung, 2011. "The impact of tour quality and tourist satisfaction on tourist loyalty: The case of Chinese tourists in Korea," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1115-1124.
    6. Ohe, Yasuo, 2008. "Evaluating the Diversifying Market for and Viability of Rural Tourism Activity in Japan," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 43647, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
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    Cited by:

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    4. Lin Zhu & Li Wu & Xiran Xu & Xinyu Chen, 2024. "Exploring Pathways for Stimulating Cultural Services in Rural Ecosystems through Experiential Learning Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-13, September.

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