Cultural Authenticity and Sustainable Tourist Behavior in Nomadic Community-Based Tourism: Evidence from Mongolia

Cultural authenticity plays a crucial role in community-based tourism by enhancing meaningful visitor experiences and encouraging responsible tourist behavior. However, limited research has examined how authenticity promotes sustainable tourist behavior in nomadic tourism settings. This study investigates the influence of cultural authenticity on sustainable tourist behavior among Chinese tourists visiting nomadic community-based tourism destinations in Mongolia. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) framework, the study proposes that authentic experience value, place attachment, and tourist satisfaction mediate this relationship. Data were collected from 300 Chinese tourists and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that cultural authenticity significantly enhances authentic experience value, place attachment, and tourist satisfaction. Furthermore, authentic experience value and place attachment positively influence sustainable tourist behavior, whereas tourist satisfaction does not have a significant effect. Mediation analysis confirms that authentic experience value and place attachment serve as significant mediators linking cultural authenticity and sustainable tourist behavior. The findings demonstrate that authentic cultural experiences encourage sustainable tourist behavior primarily through meaningful experiential value and emotional attachment rather than satisfaction alone. This study extends authenticity research by highlighting its role in fostering sustainability-oriented behavior and contributes empirical evidence from the underexplored context of Mongolian nomadic community-based tourism.