Visitor Motivation and Experience with an Imitation Destination: Kobe Chinatown

Abstract

Visitor motivation and experience are essential concepts for both tourism researchers and practitioners. However, there is a structural difference between motivation and experience. How visitor motivation and experience interact and influence visitor satisfaction remains unknown. This study addressed these topics by investigating visitors to Kobe Chinatown, an imitation tourist spot in East Japan. The study collected the answers from 210 online and onsite participants via a structured questionnaire (April–November 2024). The outcomes showed that one motivation factor (interpersonal seeking) was significantly associated with two experience factors (cognitive: β = 0.279, p = 0.003 and affective: β = 0.660, p = 0.000); however, the prior literature review of research on imitation destinations suggested that two other motivation factors (personal escaping and personal seeking) would also be present in the association. In addition, this study also identified that both experience factors significantly predicted visitor satisfaction (cognitive: β = 0.482, p = 0.000 and affective: β = 0.340, p = 0.005) while motivation did not. The issue with the conceptualization of motivation and the essentiality of experience was discussed based on these observations. Implications for sustaining and promoting imitation destinations were also generated.

1. Introduction

Visitor motivation and experience are essential concepts for both tourism researchers and practitioners. However, a structural difference between motivation and experience makes confirming the match or mismatch between the two phenomena difficult. Specifically, visitor motivation is often structured by escape seeking and personal–interpersonal factors [1]. Personal escaping is the motivation to break away from one’s ordinary inner (e.g., psychological) world, while interpersonal escaping is the drive to avoid one’s typical outer (e.g., social) world. Otherwise, personal seeking is the inclination to find new things within oneself, and interpersonal seeking is the search for novel encounters with other people. These motivation factors can be fulfilled by participating in tourism and leisure activities. They can have push or pull natures [2]. Nonetheless, visitor experience may include cognitive and affective elements [3]. The cognitive experiences concern visitors’ sensory and physical activities at a destination, such as eating, drinking, hearing, seeing, and touching things [4]. Otherwise, the affective experiences involve visitors’ emotional encounters during the abovementioned activities, such as happiness, energy, pleasantness, anxiety, and sadness [5]. This structural incongruence suggests that a unified approach is needed when examining these two significant phenomena.

Visitor motivation and experience have been examined for many tourist destination types, including imitation or replica sites. Using quantitative methods, reference [6] found that Taiwanese visitors’ escaping and seeking motivation factors affected their intention to visit European theme parks. In addition, reference [7] observed that visitors to Egypt’s Luxor Tutankhamun tomb might prefer the replica experiences instead of the genuine experience when the experiences were restricted and their goal was to have fun. Alternatively, by adopting qualitative techniques, several researchers emphasized visitor motivation or experience [8,9,10,11]. Others captured visitor perceptions, such as destination image and authenticity [12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. Although rich in information, these studies did not explicitly combine motivation and experience to show how these two phenomena are associated. This gap needs to be filled to enrich the literature.

Among imitation destinations, Chinatowns may be the most popular [19,20,21]. Chicago Chinatown provides visitors with exotic and comfortable experiences, such as food and architecture [22]. Amsterdam Chinatown creates a themed economic space dealing with Asia- and China-related products [23]. Vancouver Chinatown offers visitors a safe nighttime consumption scene [24]. The perceived authenticity and values of Chinatown (Singapore) could affect visitors’ overall satisfaction [20]. Thus, the Chinatowns may simultaneously represent both authentic and imitative elements of China and its culture. Nonetheless, how visitor motivation and experience interact and how they influence visitor satisfaction remain unknown. Addressing these issues will help further sustain and develop this particular imitation destination.

The objectives of this study are twofold. Initially, the study builds a theoretical model addressing the structural relationships among the components of motivation and experience of visitors visiting imitation destinations. After that, the study tests this model using a Chinatown case, additionally considering visitor satisfaction. The findings will help verify the motivation–experience association and identify the potential impacts of all motivation and experience components on visitor satisfaction. They will also provide practical implications for better managing Chinatowns.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Imitation Sites and Imitation Strategies

An imitation visitor destination is the replica or simulacrum of an authentic destination in another place [25]. Modern fake or copycat sites built by individuals and businesses exist in many places [26]; millions of visitors might visit popular destinations, such as Paris Plages artificial beaches, annually [27]. Alternatively, historical sites constructed by rulers in their colonies or early migrants in their host countries also remain worldwide [28,29]; examples include Japan-built architectural heritage sites and Chinatowns [30,31].

From a business perspective, employing replicas in the leisure and tourism industries can be considered an imitation strategy, broadly defined as mimicking other countries or organizations’ offerings [32]. This strategy has numerous rationales, including commercial benefits, artistic and aesthetic initiatives, entertainment, psychological rewards, and preservation efforts [33]. Overall, imitation strategies can help promote incremental innovation (the ability to develop products and services that are new to a business) but diminish radical innovation (the ability to develop products and services that are new to an industry or the world) [34]. Hence, imitation is only effective in the short term and for low-tech companies and developing or underdeveloped nations [35]. Rejuvenating via constant imitation can help mitigate this strategy’s negative trends and consequences [36,37]. In addition, changing peripheral or supportive product elements, such as brand mascots, can also help expand the life cycle of replica products [38], including imitation destinations.

Imitating, nonetheless, is different from counterfeiting [39]. With the former, a destination can reproduce other places’ architecture with specific design, detail, and scale changes. With the latter, the reproductions must be identical to the originals. Imitating the themes of the original destinations is probably perceived as more acceptable and less unfair than imitating their original features [40]. This fact may explain the long-term popularity of historical replica sites, such as Chinatowns.

2.2. Visitor Motivations to Visit Imitation Sites

Reference [1] structured visitor motivation by four elements: personal escaping, interpersonal escaping, personal seeking, and interpersonal seeking. However, reference [9] identified only two “personal-seeking” components (the desire to experience “fairy tales” and the desire to see imitation) and one “interpersonal-seeking” component (the desire for serendipitous experiences) (the Hengdian World Studio in China). Reference [14] revealed three “seeking” components: one personal (connecting with cultural landscapes and nature), one interpersonal (exoticism and a quest for the “local”), and one general (experiential tourism) (the Scotland Exhibition at Nanjing Museum). Similarly, reference [18] also found a general “seeking” component, in addition to “personal seeking” and “interpersonal seeking” (various imitation sites in China). Moreover, all five motivation components extracted by reference [12] were “personal seeking:” education, opportunity, interest in archaeology, history, and culture, interest in cave and cave paintings, and interest in replicas (the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc Cave’s replica in France). Only reference [10] suggested one “personal-seeking” component and one “personal-escaping” component (the Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden in China).

Thus, previous studies on imitation destinations showed that the “seeking” motivation components were more apparent than the “escaping” ones. The “interpersonal-escaping” component might be less apparent (

Table 1. Imitation destination visitors’ motivation.

	Escaping	Seeking
Interpersonal		o
Personal	o	o

Note. The matrix was developed by the author. o: existence.

). In addition, “personal seeking” was bolder than “interpersonal seeking.” In many cases, it was difficult to distinguish these two types of “seeking.” In other words, the two “seeking” motivation components may converge rather than diverge from each other.

2.3. Visitor Experiences at Imitation Sites

Reference [3] regarded visitor experience as a two-element phenomenon: cognition and affect. These elements were boldly portrayed in the previous works on imitation destinations. For example, one of reference [13]’s subjects described their cognitive experience at the Lascaux II–IV, Chauvet II, and Altamira Caves in France and Spain with several sensory and physical impressions: “The smell, humidity and lighting have been carefully crafted to give as authentic an experience as possible” [13] (p. 6). Similarly, one of reference [10]’s participants recalled their cognitive experience at the Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden in China as follows: “I was wearing a Song suit, walking on the street and encountering jugglers, the sugar making man, the shops, and suddenly the war broke out…” (p. 239). From an affective perspective, reference [12] quoted a visitor to the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc Cave’s replica in France, saying that their experience was “magnificent” and “incredible” [12] (p. 154). Nonetheless, reference [17] cited another visitor to the Hallstatt Village in China, saying that they felt “desperate” to visit imitation sites in this country [17] (p. 581).

Thus, most visitor experiences at imitation destinations were positive. However, some negative encounters were also reported in specific cases. Additionally, cognitive and affective experiences are strongly associated. Positive sensory and physical (cognitive) experiences could generate positive feelings. Conversely, some positive feelings would undoubtedly tint visitors’ perspectives when absorbing the sensory cues and trying the physical movements and activities at imitation destinations. The same was true with the negative experiences there.

2.4. The Hypotheses

Visitor motivation and experience do not match structurally. However, an association between the two may exist.

In some cases, visitors to imitation destinations have both escaping and seeking motivations and escaping while seeking [41]; the relationships among the motivation and experience elements are illustrated in Figure 1. Specifically, visitors may seek cognitive and affective experiences to satisfy their thirst for new personal and interpersonal inputs. Positive experiences can lead to visitors’ satisfaction with visiting imitation destinations; the expectation-confirmation theory postulates this association [42]. When the visitors only have a seeking motivation, the mechanism stays the same.

In contrast, when visitors only have the escaping motivation (Figure 2), the experiences at imitation destinations, both cognitive and affective, can provide them with a cocoon into which to immerse [13]. Here, new experiences may help visitors forget about themselves or their issues. Specifically, uncommon physical activities and sensory encounters will improve visitors’ psychological well-being, in general, and visit satisfaction, in particular [43]. In addition, some positive feelings will assist visitors’ stress-coping process [44], implied by their tendency to escape from the current inner instability.

Overall, visitor motivation and experience may have a different structure. However, experience can help meet motivation [10,12,13,17]. In addition, all the components of motivation and experience can impact overall visitor satisfaction [7,43]. Thus, this study proposes and tests the following hypotheses (H).

H1: 

Motivation (personal escaping, personal seeking, and interpersonal seeking) and experience (cognitive and affective) are significantly correlated in the context of imitation destinations.

H2: 

Motivation (personal escaping, personal seeking, and interpersonal seeking) and experience (cognitive and affective) significantly affect overall visitor satisfaction in the context of imitation destinations.

3. Method

3.1. Setting

This study examined Kobe Chinatown in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The reasons for this selection were twofold. First, little research has examined Chinatowns in Japan, in general, and Kobe Chinatown, in particular [45,46]. Second, few studies have examined the Hyogo case and provided implications for managing tourism in the prefecture [47,48]. With its exploratory effort, this study will enrich the literature and strengthen the practical implications regarding Kobe Chinatown.

Kobe Chinatown (Nankinmachi) was established in the mid-19th century when Kobe’s port was opened to foreign trade. Today, this area is populated by Chinese-related shops, restaurants, and food stalls spanning two main streets, meeting at a small central plaza. It is part of Kobe’s busy shopping and dining district.

3.2. Method Selection and Questionnaire Development

This study adopted a quantitative method to collect and analyze the data. This method was suitable, given the study’s purpose of testing the relationships among constructs and variables.

A questionnaire was developed with some questions borrowed from the literature. Specifically, three motivation factors and nine items were found in [1]. The five items of affective experience were aggregated from various imitation destination-related sources [8,9,10,11,13,17,18]. In addition, the questionnaire included five items of cognitive experience gathered by the researcher and their assistants via direct observations at Kobe Chinatown. The questionnaire also gathered information on the participants’ age, biological sex, education, occupation, country of origin, and overall satisfaction. The primary items (motivation, experience, satisfaction) were evaluated on a five-point scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” (

Table 2. The factors and items.

Factor/Item	Code
Personal escaping motivation	M1
Get away from my normal environment	PE1
Have a change in pace from my everyday life	PE2
Change my mental state	PE3
Personal seeking motivation	M2
Tell others about my experiences	PS1
Feel good about myself	PS2
Experience new things	PS3
Interpersonal seeking motivation	M3
Be with people of similar interests	IS1
Bring friends or family closer	IS2
Meet new people	IS3
Cognitive experience	E1
Having time with friends or family	CE1
Watching landscape and people	CE2
Buying goods and services	CE3
Consuming food and drinks	CE4
Taking pictures	CE5
Affective experience	E2
I felt enthusiastic.	AE1
I felt optimistic.	AE2
I felt hopeful.	AE3
I felt stimulated.	AE4
I felt surprised.	AE5
Satisfaction
Overall, I was satisfied with my experiences at Kobe Chinatown.	OS

).

The questionnaire was written in English and then translated into Japanese via a translation-back-translation process. The researcher and an assistant checked each other’s work before finalizing the bilingual version. They also created an online version via Google Forms. A yes or no question asking about the online participants’ prior experience at Kobe Chinatown was included to screen the validity of the answers.

3.3. Data Collection

The data were collected from April to November 2024 by 23 international and Japanese students (the assistants) attending three research seminars at a public university in Kobe. In these seminars, the students learned different data collection methods, including questionnaire surveys. Participating in this project was a way to practice this particular method.

The assistants collected the data in two steps. First, they posted the online questionnaire on their social media to gather answers from their friends and acquaintances; they received 105 responses. Second, the assistants went to Kobe Chinatown and approached the visitors directly, receiving 129 replies. After eliminating 24 answers from those without prior experience (n = 7) or who did not answer all the questions (n = 17), a sample of 210 was retained.

The sample was relatively young, with about 48% in their 20s. About 59% were female, and 35% were male. Approximately 49% reported a high school education, while about 39% were university graduates. Visitors from Japan and overseas accounted for about half of the sample. Before answering, all the participants were informed of the study’s purpose, data protection, and data usage policy.

3.4. Data Analysis

First, the data’s characteristics were assessed. A descriptive analysis assisted by IBM SPSS 23 revealed that all the primary measures had skewness and kurtosis values below 2 and 3, respectively (

Table 3. Properties of the items.

Factor/Item	Mean	Standard Deviation	Skewness	Kurtosis	Alpha/CITC	Loading
M1					0.791
PE1	3.124	1.392	–0.267	–1.200	0.726	N/A
PE2	3.133	1.331	−0.309	−1.056	0.745	N/A
PE3	3.652	1.229	−0.685	−0.437	0.468	N/A
M2					0.735
PS1	2.887	1.302	−0.035	−1.091	0.657	N/A
PS2	3.573	1.194	−0.703	−0.277	0.457	N/A
PS3	3.324	1.402	−0.417	−1.060	0.583	N/A
M3					0.778
IS1	2.892	1.290	−0.023	−1.018	0.637	0.835
IS3	2.610	1.343	0.292	−1.033	0.637	0.763
E1					0.814
CE1	4.197	0.823	−0.944	1.027	0.578	0.656
CE2	4.056	0.799	−0.718	0.896	0.638	0.755
CE3	3.930	0.885	−0.810	0.734	0.620	0.689
CE4	4.277	0.832	−1.402	2.614	0.615	0.656
CE5	4.094	0.906	−1.031	1.182	0.563	0.656
E2					0.883
AE1	3.587	1.009	−0.602	0.121	0.742	0.815
AE2	3.840	0.958	−0.877	0.867	0.688	0.750
AE3	3.272	1.051	−0.417	−0.119	0.792	0.853
AE4	3.643	1.048	−0.658	−0.020	0.756	0.811
AE5	3.296	1.129	−0.405	−0.458	0.618	0.656
OS	4.160	0.820	−1.288	2.807

Note. CITC = Corrected Total-Item Correlation. N/A = Not Applicable.

). In other words, the data was normally distributed [49].

Second, Cronbach’s alphas of the factors were examined. One item of the interpersonal seeking factor, IS2, was weakly correlated with the remaining two items; it was removed to increase the alpha of this and other factors to above 0.7, with all the corrected item–total correlation values exceeding 0.4. The measures were reliable [50].

Third, the hypotheses were tested using the covariance-based structural equation modeling approach provided by IBM Amos. With eight motivation items, 10 experience items, and one satisfaction item, the respondent-to-item ratio exceeded 10:1, suitable for the abovementioned approach [51].

Concerning H1, the average variance extracted (AVE) values were calculated to determine the convergent and discriminant validity of the factors participating in the motivation–experience correlation analysis. According to reference [52], an AVE should surpass 0.50 for a factor to have convergent validity, and its squared root value should surpass the highest correlation efficiency among all the factors for it to have discriminant validity. In addition, the composite reliability (CR) was also computed to verify the reliability of the factors further. According to reference [51], a CR should exceed 0.6 or 0.7 for a factor to have acceptable reliability. Two fit indices were additionally considered to ascertain the fitness of the models (the hypotheses) with the data: CMIN/DF (relative chi-square index) < 3 and SRMR (standardized root mean squared residual) < 0.1 [53].

The outcome of the original analysis of H1 revealed that M1’s (personal escaping) and M2’s (personal seeking) AVEs were below 0.5. Therefore, the model was adjusted by removing these two motivation factors. The result of the adjusted analysis met the predetermined criteria.

4. Results

4.1. The Correlation Between Motivation and Experience (The Correlation Model)

The literature review of imitation destinations suggested that the three factors of motivation (personal escaping, personal seeking, and interpersonal seeking) and the two factors of experience (cognitive and affective) should correlate. However, the analysis of the data gathered from Kobe Chinatown visitors revealed that the personal escaping and seeking motivation factors had low convergent validity as their AVEs did not exceed 0.5. The remaining motivation factor, interpersonal seeking, was significantly correlated with the two experience factors (

Table 4. Correlation model.

	M3	E1	AVE	$\sqrt{AVE}$	CR
M3			0.501	0.708	0.667
E1	0.279 (0.003) *		0.544	0.738	0.865
E2	0.660 (0.000)	0.634 (0.000)	0.589	0.767	0.877

Note: * coefficient (significance).

). The correlation between interpersonal seeking and cognitive experience was weaker than that between interpersonal seeking and affective experience. The correlation between the two experience factors was strong, as the literature review revealed.

This outcome suggests that positive experiences in Kobe Chinatown could motivate visitors to visit this destination. Nevertheless, it highlights the significance of the affective experience over the cognitive experience in meeting visitors’ interpersonal seeking motivation.

4.2. The Impacts of Motivation and Experience on Satisfaction (The Regression Model)

The literature review also suggested that all motivation and experience factors could affect satisfaction. In this study with Kobe Chinatown visitors, the results revealed the insignificance of interpersonal seeking motivation and the significance of the experiences (

Table 5. Regression model.

	β	p
M3	−0.124	0.195
E1	0.482	0.000
E2	0.340	0.005

). Nevertheless, the impact of the cognitive experience was larger than that of the affective experience.

The regression model’s fit indices were satisfactory: CMIN/DF = 2.73 and SRMR = 0.07. The correlation model’s fitness was also confirmed, with CMIN/DF = 2.84 and SRMR = 0.07.

5. Discussion

Visitor motivation and experience are closely correlated. However, not all motivation factors are associated. This discrepancy may exist because motivation has not been conceptualized from a cognitive–affective perspective. Instead, motivation has been defined as the goals visitors want to achieve by visiting a specific destination, mostly cognition-based [1]. The affective aspect of motivation is sometimes separated from (e.g., PS3) but is usually embedded in (e.g., PE2) cognitive motivation; its role as an independent factor has been neglected. In this study, only one cognition-based motivation (interpersonal seeking) significantly correlated with the experiences. This outcome confirmed previous studies’ observation of this motivation factor’s dominance in driving visitors to imitation destinations [9,10,12,14,18].

In addition, separating the personal and interpersonal aspects of motivation might not be realistic in certain circumstances, as the literature has identified with the seeking components [14,18]. Differentiating the escaping and seeking aspects of motivation might not be practical in some cases because they could be put in the general personal or interpersonal component, as this study discovered (the personal escaping and personal seeking factors might converge). The gap between theory and practice is noticeable.

Moreover, motivation might not significantly predict visitor satisfaction when the experience is present. Both experience aspects significantly affected satisfaction, although the impact of cognitive experience was more substantial than that of affective experience. However, the role of cognitive experience in meeting motivation was weaker than that of affective experience. As the literature indicates, the significance of cognition and affect varies [54].

Practical Implication

Chinatowns, in general, and Kobe Chinatown, in particular, are imitation destinations. The quality of activities available at these sites controls visitor satisfaction. First-time visitors may positively evaluate these offerings. Nonetheless, repeaters may lose interest in the same offerings and be less motivated to revisit them, jeopardizing these destinations’ sustainability. Thus, the constant imitation and change strategy is appropriate, as the literature suggests [36,37,38].

This study’s observation of the role of experiences also advocates a diversity strategy involving products from different Chinatowns [55]. Projecting and providing unique products in each Chinatown are essential for image and reputation management and long-term and sustainable business prosperity. Good food and drink options and distinguishing scenery and landscape can help bring regular visitors to the Chinatowns. One or two unique offerings will help differentiate one Chinatown from the others, which may often be similarly perceived [22,23,24]. For example, in Japan, Kobe Chinatown can develop more Kobe beef-related offerings. At the same time, Nagasaki Chinatown can promote its champon noodles and lantern festival, while Yokohama Chinatown can continue to excel in its buns and dumplings [55].

6. Conclusions

This study explored the correlation between motivation and experience using the Kobe Chinatown case. It found that one motivation factor (interpersonal seeking) was significantly associated with two experience factors (cognitive and affective), although the prior literature review of research on imitation destinations suggested that two other motivation factors (personal escaping and personal seeking) would also be present in the association. In addition, this study also identified that both experience factors could significantly predict visitor satisfaction, while motivation could not. The issue with conceptualizing motivation and the essentiality of experience was discussed. The importance of diversifying the offerings of different Chinatowns was also emphasized.

However, this study had some limitations. First, it only examined one imitation destination. The situations of other imitation and original destinations were not revealed. Second, the study only investigated one dependent variable: visitor satisfaction. The significance of motivation and experience with other variables, such as revisit and recommendation intentions, was not identified. Third, the study did not consider the differences between domestic and international visitors due to the small subsample sizes (about 100 each). The presence of cultural heterogeneity was not explored.

Future research could expand this study to other contexts, destinations, and visitor types (domestic vs. international). Researchers should also include other variables in their quantitative efforts. In addition, they could explore the cognitive–affective structure of motivation. Research in other fields has already tested this approach [56,57]. These attempts will further enrich the literature on visitor motivation and experience, with more implications for managing visitor cognition and affect while visiting visitor destinations.