Nostalgic feelings: motivation, positive and negative emotions, and authenticity at heritage sites

This study examines psychological factors that can trigger nostalgia from the heritage tourism experience. We treat nostalgia as an emotion rather than a push travel motive and argue that nostalgic feelings can be predicted by visitors’ (domestic and international) motivation, positive and negative emotions, and perceived authenticity of the heritage experience. We develop and test five hypotheses among 500 visitors to Su Nuraxi, the most visited UNESCO world heritage site in Sardinia, Italy. The findings show that statistically no significant difference exists between domestic and international visitors on their felt nostalgia. Nostalgic feelings are higher when the site is part of the visitor’s own heritage and is world famous, suggesting a positive relationship between visitation motives and nostalgia. Nostalgia can be triggered by both positive (astonishment and gratitude) and negative emotions (guilt and disappointment) felt at the site and has, therefore, a bittersweetness to its affective signature. More importantly, perceived authenticity is not a strong predictor of nostalgia. Implications for heritage site management and marketing are offered.