The Threshold of Authenticity and the Limits of Cultural Involvement: A Non-Linear Perspective on Heritage Tourist Loyalty

As urban heritage tourism faces the challenge of balancing conservation and development, understanding the non-linear drivers of tourist loyalty becomes crucial for sustainable development of urban heritage tourism. This study delves into how perceived authenticity and cultural involvement affect tourist loyalty in an urban heritage district and tests whether these effects vary across different experience levels. Data was collected using a structured survey questionnaire, which was administered through on-site convenience sampling. To ensure the reliability and validity of the data, a face-to-face recruitment approach was employed, with participants invited to complete the survey immediately after their visit. The sample consisted of 469 domestic tourists in the Pingjiang Historic Block. The study applied quadratic modeling within Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze both linear and non-linear relationships among the key factors. The results indicate that loyalty is driven primarily by experiential and involvement-related processes, with cultural motivation and object-based authenticity influencing loyalty mainly through existential authenticity and cultural involvement, rather than through direct effects. The findings showed that the non-linear relationships were observed in the process of loyalty formation, whereas the relationships among antecedents and cultural involvement remain largely linear. Specifically, both object-based authenticity and existential authenticity have a minimum credibility threshold that must be met before loyalty increases meaningfully, while cultural involvement follows an inverted U-shaped pattern, implying diminishing returns beyond an optimal level. This study contributes to a further understanding of the complex relationship between authenticity and tourist loyalty. The findings provide a novel perspective for policymakers, offering insights into how the non-linear relationships of loyalty can be leveraged to promote the sustainable development of urban heritage tourism.