The Influence of Environmental Factors, Perception, and Participation on Industrial Heritage Tourism Satisfaction—A Study Based on Multiple Heritages in Shanghai

Abstract

With the increasing public awareness and strength of industrial heritage protection, industrial heritage plays an increasingly important role in tourism after transformation and upgrading. The influence of built environment factors and visitors’ participation on satisfaction has been fully confirmed, but the primary and secondary relationships between the two variables remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between the built environment, tourist participation, and tourism satisfaction, and compare the actual loads of different routes to find the dominant variable. The data of this study came from three industrial heritage renovation projects in Shanghai with remarkable transformation results. Field investigations and questionnaire surveys were conducted on them, and a total of 362 valid samples were received. Descriptive statistical analysis and structural equation models were used to analyze the data. Two paths of “built environment–tourism satisfaction” and “tourist participation–tourism satisfaction” are compared and demonstrated. The path coefficient of the former is 0.63, while that of the latter is 0.77, and the influence of the latter is more significant than that of the former. The study creatively found the audience orientation of both sexes for different types of experience activities, confirmed the mediating effect of subjective perception, and provided the following suggestions for managers of built industrial cultural heritage. Interactive experiences and guided tours deepen visitors’ understanding of the historical and cultural value of industrial heritage. Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies can be introduced to provide an immersive visit experience and attract a wider audience to participate, effectively enhancing the attractiveness of and satisfaction with industrial heritage tourism.

1. Introduction

In the process of rapid social and economic development, the protection and sustainable utilization of industrial heritage has attracted more and more attention from the public [1,2,3]. It has been proved that the combination of industrial heritage and cultural tourism can bring greater economic value [4,5,6]. Industrial heritage tourism aims to promote cultural identity, economic development, and sustainability through the preservation and display of this heritage while enhancing visitor participation and experience. Based on the relevant research on cultural heritage from 2002 to 2022, it is found that tourism satisfaction, rural development, and cultural heritage management are key research frontiers, and the importance of in-depth and comprehensive research on cultural heritage tourism to help it adapt to new cultural, technological and consumption trends is indicated [7]. As the largest industrial city in China, Shanghai is one of the regions with a profound industrial heritage history. Many scholars have conducted qualitative studies on the cultural and educational value, economic development value, environmental sustainability, and other aspects of Shanghai’s industrial heritage [4,8,9]. Sun et al. [8] believe that Shanghai’s top-down policy of transforming industrial heritage into creative industry clusters can promote sustainable urban regeneration. However, the current research on the effective transformation of industrial heritage in Shanghai is relatively concentrated on economic benefits, social impact assessment, spatial distribution, utilization analysis, etc., and there is a lack of quantitative research on the satisfaction of tourists from the perspective of tourists. The overall satisfaction with industrial heritage is jointly affected by many complex factors. In addition to the activity ability threshold caused by individual characteristic differences, the built environment of industrial heritage, visitors’ participation, visitors’ loyalty, and visitors’ overall satisfaction with the site are highly correlated [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17].

With the increasing public awareness of environmental protection, the shift from a resource-based economy to a circular economy has become a global trend [18,19,20,21,22,23,24]. In the transformation of industrial heritage, the adaptive reuse of buildings plays a critical role in this transformation. In the transformation of abandoned industrial buildings, the style attributes of the original buildings should be preserved as much as possible, and their performance should be enhanced to meet the current standards [11,12]. A large number of studies have shown that the built environment of industrial heritage, such as sanitary conditions, the greening ratio, related supporting facilities, the indoor environment of buildings, and the accessibility of transportation, has a positive impact on tourists’ satisfaction [13,14,15]. Liu et al. [13] made a detailed analysis of the path of the influence of industrial heritage renovation of the indoor environment on satisfaction. Chen et al. [23] made a systematic study of the brand image generated by the built environment. Han et al. [15] analyzed tourists’ satisfaction with the semantic difference method and found that tourists had higher satisfaction with spatial environment elements, social and cultural elements, and landscape greening elements, but lower satisfaction with supporting facilities elements and traffic location elements. In general, built environment factors play a positive role in tourism satisfaction to a certain extent.

At the same time, visitors’ participation in the venue, including cultural experience, curation-related activities, lecture workshops, and art performances, also has a positive effect on visitors’ satisfaction [15,16,17,18]. Yuan et al. [16] confirmed the importance of tourism participation and emotional attitude in determining residents’ tourism attitudes through research on tourism involvement, cognition, emotion, and behavioral intention. Wei et al. [14] confirmed that authentic experience and experience quality positively affect tourist satisfaction, environmentally responsible behavior, and destination loyalty. The protection and reuse of industrial heritage requires the participation of the public, and the needs of the public can guide and decide the protection and reuse methods of industrial heritage [17,18,19,25].

To sum up, the studies on the built environment and visitors’ participation have been sufficient and consistent. However, few relevant studies compare the influence paths of the two horizontally, and there are even fewer studies on which one dominates, and the conclusions are inconsistent. In response to the above questions, this paper selected three industrial heritages in Shanghai with effective transformation, namely the Shanghai International Fashion Center (SFC), the Creative Industry Park (M50), and Tianwu (EKA), as the objects of this study, conducted field investigations and questionnaire surveys, and obtained the impact factors of each path through the relevant path fitting of the Amos model, so as to conduct a comparative demonstration. First, a structural equation model (SEM) was used to deduce the formation of the relevant paths, and the corresponding results were obtained. At the same time, the reasons affecting the differences in the results were analyzed, and the conclusions were obtained.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Industrial Heritage Tourism and Experience

Most researchers believe that heritage tourism is one of the most important and fastest-growing parts of tourism [26,27,28,29]. With the advent of the experience-based economic era, industrial heritage tourism will usher in huge development opportunities [30]. Jorn Harfst et al. [31] argue that the current economic impact of industrial heritage tourism on the transition to more sustainable regional development is rather low. Stakeholders in the surrounding region should be more aware of the different constraints and opportunities that cultural heritage can present in achieving more sustainable regional development. Through the design of experiential products, industrial heritage may have a better chance of realizing its aesthetic, historical, cultural, and social value [32]. However, there are few quantitative studies on subjective perception, cultural experience, and other inherent latent variables in industrial heritage tourism, especially for China’s industrial heritage tourism.

2.2. Environmental Factors

Many scholars believe that the built environment of industrial heritage contributes to improving the quality of experience and visitor satisfaction [14,33]. Han et al. [15] believe that the built environment of industrial heritage is composed of a variety of complex factors, from which five main evaluation factors were extracted: spatial environment factors, social and cultural factors, landscape greening factors, supporting facilities factors, and traffic location factors. By using the semantic difference method to analyze the tourists’ satisfaction, it was found that the tourists have higher satisfaction with the spatial environment elements, social culture elements, and landscape greening elements. Meanwhile, lower satisfaction was found with the supporting facilities elements and traffic location elements. Meng et al. [34] established a space reuse satisfaction evaluation system based on six dimensions: functional substitution, traffic accessibility, carrying capacity, public space, boundary form, and value recognition. At the same time, the built environment needs to be in the context of real experience to give full play to its maximum effect, and the two complement each other to improve tourism satisfaction [21,22]. However, there are few and inconsistent studies on the internal relationship between the built environment and visitors’ participation.

H1: 

The built environment has a more significant impact on tourism satisfaction than tourists’ participation.

H2: 

The improvement of the built environment can enhance visitors’ participation in the site activities.

2.3. Participation

Visiting industrial sites can provide tourists with a nostalgic and novel experience of traditional manufacturing and processing industries [35,36]. McIntosh and Prentice [37] studied the process by which visitors interact with industrial heritage sites and pointed out that “insight” in the interaction process is a key component of the experience reported by visitors. That is, visitors to these heritage destinations are looking for unique experiences that are personally meaningful and that come from the interaction between the activity and the individual. In this respect, the visitor becomes an actor rather than an audience member [38]. To engage visitors as participants or co-makers, heritage settings must consider marketing campaigns and visitor perceptions. Determining which marketing campaigns will lead to a deeper, more positive experience for visitors is a key issue.

H3: 

Cultural activities can stimulate tourist satisfaction during the visit.

H4: 

Consumption activities can stimulate tourist satisfaction during the visit.

H5: 

Leisure and entertainment can stimulate visitors’ overall satisfaction during the visit.

After integrating different aspects of experience formation, Schmitt [39] further proposed five types of consumer experience that can be created through marketing stimulation, including perception, thinking, action, and connection, which is called the strategic experience module. Sensory experiences include aesthetic pleasure, excitement, and satisfaction that can be obtained from visual, sound, smell, taste, and touch stimuli. Emotional experiences engage customers with feelings and emotions, ranging from mild positivity to intense joy or nostalgia. Thought experiences include convergent and divergent thinking caused by surprise and stimulation. Behavioral experiences include encouraging lifestyle, interaction, and behavior change. These theories provide decision-makers and managers of cultural organizations with a strategic basis for developing and optimizing consumer experiences, enabling them to design richer and deeper experiences of consumer engagement and enjoyment by taking all elements into account.

H6: 

Visitor participation has a more significant impact on tourism satisfaction than the built environment.

2.4. Subjective Perception

The way visitors understand and interpret industrial cultural heritage plays a crucial role in the correct management of industrial cultural organizations [40,41,42]. At the same time, spatial psychology research shows that environmental attributes can positively affect human emotions. Based on the S-O-R theory, Zhang et al. [43] constructed a research model of responsible environmental behavior to analyze the real experience of industrial heritage scenic spots through a questionnaire survey and field investigation after reviewing the literature from five aspects: real experience, perceived value, emotion, tourist recall, and environmental responsibility behavior. It is proved that real experience and subjective perception can induce positive and negative emotions in tourists, and then produce memory and environmental responsibility behavior. Emotion plays a partially mediating role in real experience, perceived value, recall, and environmental responsibility behavior [36,44]. Positive emotion and perceived value have significant positive effects on tourists’ recall and environmental responsibility behavior, and vice versa. Real experience is an important prerequisite for emotion [45]. Therefore, this means that decision-makers and managers can apply these findings in the management framework of industrial heritage, making it highly visible through pre-defined paths.

H7: 

Tourists’ subjective perception has a significant impact on tourism satisfaction during the visit process.

H8: 

The built environment affects tourism satisfaction through subjective perception.

H9: 

Tourist participation affects tourist satisfaction through subjective perception.

2.5. Tourists’ Satisfaction

In recent years, the number of industrial heritage reuse projects has risen sharply, and the scientific evaluation of tourism satisfaction is a key part of resolving the mutual balance between heritage protection and urban renewal [34,46,47]. Pizam et al. [48] believe that satisfaction represents a psychological state. Tourist satisfaction refers to the comprehensive evaluation of tourists’ overall tourism experience. The overall satisfaction, summarized by Jones et al. [33], refers to the summary that includes all previous satisfaction levels of tourists. Tourist satisfaction, which includes the experiences of tourists at various stages, is the main focus of this study and a key evaluation factor to obtain the final result. Phillips and Baumgartner [49] explain the formation process of satisfaction from the perspective of experience, and emphasize that satisfaction response can be described as an experientially motivated process in which consumers approach consumption, thus forming expectations (based on empirical results) and experiences (exposed to marketing), and evaluate value.

Through the literature research, we found the following deficiencies. First, quantitative data are insufficient. In the past, the majority of studies were qualitative studies, lacking sufficient quantitative data support, and most of them relied on qualitative studies or individual case analyses. Second, there are few studies on subjective perception as the mediating effect of industrial heritage tourism satisfaction, and there is often a lack of long-term tracking and evaluation mechanisms, which makes it difficult to evaluate the continuous effect and long-term social impact of improvement measures. Third, participants and stakeholders have insufficient perspectives. Previous studies were often analyzed from the perspective of the government and decision-makers, but the perspective of daily users such as tourists and residents has been less studied, and there is a lack of relevant quantitative data for comprehensive social perspective and participation analyses. Therefore, the relationship between the latent variables is obtained by analyzing the variables used in the research and combining with the structural equation model (Figure 1).

3. Research Design and Methods

3.1. Study Sites

In this study, we selected three typical areas of industrial heritage transformation in Shanghai as research objects: the International Fashion Center, the M50 Creative Park, and EKA Tianwu. The International Fashion Center was rebuilt from the former 17th cotton factory, which is positioned as a landmark carrier and operation base for the interaction of the international fashion industry. The center has six functions, such as fashion multi-functional shows, a reception club, a creative office, a boutique warehouse, apartments and hotels, and catering and entertainment (Figure 2). Shanghai M50 Creative Park is located on Moganshan Road on the peninsula of the south bank of Suzhou River, with convenient transportation, a strong cultural atmosphere, concentrated artistic resources, abundant supporting facilities, and a relatively independent space. M50 Creative Park was originally a Shanghai Chunming woolen textile factory. The park makes full use of the ability to gather resources, elevates the site to a higher level, and creates a brand with “art, creativity and life” as its core value (Figure 3). The predecessor of EKA Tianwu is the Shanghai Ship Instrument Factory. The renovated park consists of more than 30 unique buildings. Each building in the park has its own conceptual design, inheriting the spirit of the CSSC navigator to strive for excellence, brave the wind and waves, and forge ahead (Figure 4).

Table 1. Site information.

Site	Location	Space	Year Founded	Functional Use	Annual Income	Industrial Attribute
EKA	Jinqiao Road Pudong District	66,600 m2	2023	Creative Industry Park	None	Nautical instrument factory
SFC	Yangshupu Road Yangpu District	120,800 m2	2010	Fashion Warehouse	Over 1.15 billion *	Cotton textile factory
M50	Moganshan Road Putuo District	41,606 m2	2000	Art and Creative Park	Over 80 million **	Woolen factory

* https://news.cntv.cn/20120406/101388.shtml (accessed on 18 September 2024); ** https://www.ssme.sh.gov.cn/public/shop!shopDetail.do?shopId=2c91c29c734cba730173745652541356 (accessed on 18 September 2024).

shows basic information about the study sites. The research sites belong to different districts and counties in Shanghai, all of which are located in the downtown area of Shanghai, with superior locations, convenient transportation, a large flow of people, and high annual incomes. All of them are typical cases of urban renewal and industrial culture regeneration in Shanghai. Through their unique cultural heritage transformation and innovative atmosphere, the three venues have become one of the important models of the cultural and creative industry in Shanghai and even the world.

In terms of the built environment, the M50 Creative Park shows an industrial style and artistic atmosphere, retaining many original features of the old factory buildings, such as old-fashioned brick walls, industrial pipes, etc., combined with modern art installations, presenting a unique cultural landscape. The SFC, the Shanghai International Fashion Center, combines fashion, art, and business functions and is becoming an important window into Shanghai’s fashion industry and international culture. Its architectural design is modern and representative, reflecting the development and renewal direction of Shanghai toward high-end cultural consumption places in recent years. EKA Tianwu retains some traces of industrial heritage and incorporates elements of modern art and creative design, and is becoming another example of urban renewal and cultural regeneration in Shanghai. Therefore, the three built environments have both unity and particularity, which is suitable for this study.

In terms of visitor participation, the M50 Creative Park has attracted a large number of artists, designers, and cultural and creative practitioners, and is becoming a platform for them to exchange and display their works. Visitors can enjoy various art exhibitions, such as paintings and sculpture, and can also participate in various art activities. This openness and interactivity make it not only a tourist attraction, but also an important gathering place for cultural and creative industries. The SFC is a collection of fashion, art, and culture landmarks, and often holds a variety of art exhibitions, fashion shows, cultural activities, and brand launches, while gathering many international and local fashion brand stores, providing a rich variety of shopping choices, attracting a large number of fashion-loving consumers to shop and experience the latest fashion trends. With its unique fashion art atmosphere and diverse cultural activities, EKA Tianwu often holds creative markets and workshops in the venue, allowing visitors to participate in activities such as handcraft production and design creativity, increasing the sense of interaction and participation. Therefore, the study on the participation of tourists at the three sites has a high level of credibility.

3.2. Data Collection

The data in this paper are based on field visits and questionnaire studies at the three sites, and the study population includes tourists aged 16 to 80 years old. The field questionnaire survey was used to collect data, and the details are shown in

Table 2. Variable interpretation.

Variable	No.	Constructs/Indicators	Interpretation
Individual attribute feature	ER	E1 Gender	Male = 1, Female = 2
		E2 Age	14~18 = 1, 19~44 = 2, 45~60 = 3, 61 or above = 4
		E3 Educational level	Primary = 1, Junior = 2, High school = 3, College = 4, Undergraduate = 5, Master’s degree or above = 6
		E4 Monthly income (RMB)	2199 or below = 1 2200~7499 = 2 7500~11,999 = 3 12,000 or above = 4
		E5 Transportation options	Subway = 1, Bus = 2, Sedan = 3, Motorcycle = 4, Bicycle = 5, Walk = 6
Environment	A	A1 Pleasant environment	Strongly disagree = 1 Disagree = 2 Normal = 3 Agree = 4 Strongly agree = 5
		A2 Clear sense of direction during play
		A3 Embodies the industrial culture
		A4 The interior design of the building is aesthetic
		A5 Complete supporting facilities
		A6 The features of heritage are historic
Perception	B	B1 Bring back certain memories of your past	Strongly disagree = 1 Disagree = 2 Normal = 3 Agree = 4 Strongly agree = 5
		B2 Learn more about industrial culture
		B3 A place where culture can be passed on
		B4 Willing to carefully experience the industrial culture here
		B5 It gives me pleasure to visit here
Participation	C	C1 High participation in cultural activities	Strongly disagree = 1 Disagree = 2 Normal = 3 Agree = 4 Strongly agree = 5
		C2 High participation in consumer activities
		C3 High participation in recreational activities
		C4 Strong motivation for active participation
		C5 It has educational significance for visitors
Satisfaction	D	D1 Willing to come here again for sightseeing and leisure	Strongly disagree = 1 Disagree = 2 Normal = 3 Agree = 4 Strongly agree = 5
		D2 Willing to recommend this place to my relatives and friends
		D3 Willing to respect its industrial heritage and culture
		D4 The experience is aligned with social media and online promotion
		D5 I was satisfied with the tour overall

Source: author.

. The convenience sampling method was used in this study. Each group of interviewers was trained to participate in the data collection process to ensure the validity of the questionnaire responses. After a brief explanation of the purpose of the study, questionnaires were distributed to visitors willing to take part in the survey. After sorting and summarizing, a total of 400 questionnaires were distributed, and 362 complete responses were received. The effective recovery rate was 90.5%.

3.3. Survey Measures

In this paper, IBM SPSS Amos 28.0 software was used to complete the path diagram of the structural equation model. The structural equation model consists of two parts: one part of the structural model represents the relationships between the explicit variables and the corresponding latent variables, and another part of the structural model represents the potential causal relationships between the endogenous variables and the exogenous variables. The structural model is composed of the structural relationships between the four measurement models and the five exogenous observed variables (Figure 1).

Structural equation models are generally represented by three matrix equations:

X = Λ_x ξ + δ

(1)

Y = Λ_y ŋ + ε

(2)

ŋ = β_ŋ + Гξ + ζ

(3)

Formulas (1) and (2) are measurement models, and Formula (3) is a structural model. The formulae of the measurement models represent the relationships between the observed variables and the latent variables, and the formula of the structural model is essentially the multivariable extension of the multiple linear regression model with one dependent variable. X is the observation variable of exogenous potential variables, that is, a series of indicators to measure the objective built environment, subjective perception, and individual attributes; ξ is the potential exogenous variable. Y is the observed variable of the endogenous potential variable; η is the endogenous latent variable. Λ_x and Λ_y are the factor load matrices of the variables X and Y. β and Γ are both path coefficients; β is the relationship between endogenous latent variables. Γ is the effect of the exogenous latent variable on the value of the endogenous latent variable. ζ is the error term of the structural equation.

3.4. Data Analysis

Environmental amenity (A1) is a key factor in the study of the built environment because it has an important theoretical and empirical basis in the current research field [14]. Previous studies have shown that a clear sense of direction during visiting (A2), aesthetic design inside buildings (A4), and perfection of supporting facilities (A5) are closely related to the research theme, and can provide necessary data to support our hypotheses [13,50]. In practice, the data that embody the historical nature of industrial culture (A3) and architectural interior features (A6) can provide us with in-depth insights into the behavior and attitude of research subjects [10,11]. Therefore, the selection of these six variables as observational variables not only contributes to a more in-depth discussion on the study of the built environment in theory, but also provides a solid foundation for empirical research.

There is a close relationship between memory and subjective perception. On the one hand, individual subjective perception affects the way memory is constructed; on the other hand, emotional states in subjective perception can profoundly affect the process of memory formation and recall. Therefore, there is a high correlation between the selection of observation variables to evoke certain memories of one’s past (B1) and the enjoyment of one’s body and mind by playing (B5) and the subjective perception of latent variables. Industrial heritage carries rich historical and cultural memories that are passed on to future generations through oral histories and stories [14,17]. When individuals participate in or come into contact with these memories and stories, they shape their subjective perception of industrial heritage according to their cultural background and way of understanding. These stories may give new meaning and value to industrial heritage, influencing individuals’ emotional responses to and understanding of it. Previous studies have shown that tourists’ perception of industrial culture (B2, B3, B4) is significantly correlated with their subjective perception [51].

Tourist activity experiences of industrial heritage are closely related to participation. Effective activity design, cultural and educational communication, interactive experiences, and good service facilities are all key factors to enhance tourist participation [36]. The measurement methods of crowd density and visitor evaluation (C1, C2, C3) can simply and reliably reflect visitor participation, which is suitable for this research design. By selecting the participation motivation angle (C4, C5) as the observed variable, this study will be able to deeply explore the educational significance and satisfaction levels of industrial cultural heritage for visitors, to provide new understanding and insights for the academic community on the cultural value of industrial heritage. By understanding and meeting the diverse motivations of visitors, industrial heritage site managers can design and deliver more engaging engagement activities that enhance the overall visitor experience and engagement.

There is a mutually promoting relationship between tourist revisiting and tourist satisfaction with industrial heritage. The steady stream of visitors directly reflects tourists’ enduring interest in industrial heritage and deep cultural connection, which thus reflects the improvement in tourism satisfaction [16]. Therefore, there is a significant correlation between tourist revisiting (D1) and tourism satisfaction. The willingness of visitors to recommend industrial heritage sites to friends (D2) often reflects their travel satisfaction and overall experience of the destination. Respect for industrial heritage (D3) reflects not only visitors’ cultural understanding and historical identity, but also their level of concern for conservation and educational values. This respect can enhance the tourist experience and make the overall impression of the destination more positive and profound [36]. An effective publicity strategy (D4) should be able to accurately express the characteristics and value of industrial heritage and, meanwhile, ensure that tourists can enjoy a rich and pleasant experience during their visit, thus improving their overall satisfaction [14]. The comprehensive satisfaction of visitors to industrial heritage sites (D5) is the factor that most directly reflects people’s satisfaction.

Before starting the statistical analysis, we filtered outliers in the data by checking for Z-values and missing values to ensure that the results of the statistical test are more accurate. We followed three steps to test each hypothesis. Firstly, a two-step confirmatory factor analysis method was used to evaluate each structure separately and then validate the overall measurement model [43]. Secondly, the reliability, convergence validity, and discriminant validity of the model were tested to ensure the suitability of the psychometric properties of the model. Thirdly, the proposed path model was estimated and the hypothesis tested.

4. Results

4.1. Profile of Sample and Responses

As shown in

Table 3. Sample profile (n = 362).

	Frequency	%		Frequency	%
Gender			Monthly income (RMB)
Male	172	47.5	<2200	43	11.8
Female	190	52.5	2200–7499	105	28.9
Age			7500–11,999	136	37.6
14–18	20	5.6	>12,000	78	21.7
19–44	182	50.3	Means of transportation
45–60	130	36.0	Subway	101	28.0
61 and older	30	8.1	Bus	66	18.3
Education			Sedan	90	24.8
Primary or below	17	4.7	Motorcycle/battery car	38	10.6
Middle school	43	11.8	Bicycle	36	9.9
High school/vocational school	51	14.0	Walk	31	8.4
Junior college	71	19.6
University	135	37.3
Postgraduate or above	45	12.7

Source: author.

, female tourists outnumbered male tourists (52.5% vs. 47.5%). In terms of age distribution, the majority of visitors (50.3%) were aged between 19 and 44, followed by those aged between 45 and 60 (36.0%). They were well educated, with nearly 69.6% of them having a college degree or above. Respondents were mainly in the service sector, earning between RMB 7500 and 12,000 (37.6%), followed by between RMB 2200 and 7499 (28.9%), which may be related to unpaid occupations of students, housekeepers, and retirees. The main way visitors come to the venue is by subway (28.0%), which is closely related to Shanghai’s high-density and well-developed subway network, followed by cars (24.8%). This statistic is consistent with the audience that Shanghai’s industrial heritage transformation aims to attract, and the cooperation between industrial heritage transformation and the fashion art industry is fruitful.

4.2. Measurement Model

The latent variables of the three different sites influence each other and the load of the verification path (Figure 5), and the influence of participation of the three sites on overall satisfaction is more significant than that of the built environment. However, it is found that the influence of subjective perception on overall satisfaction is not significant, and there is a negative correlation. The negative correlation may result from the gap between tourists’ expectations and reality, information asymmetry, negative emotional connection, inadequate environment and service quality, and lack of understanding of cultural background. Together, these factors affect the overall experience of visitors, thereby reducing their satisfaction. Especially in EKA Tianwu, the negative correlation between participation and subjective perception may be caused by a variety of factors such as short opening hours of venues, imperfect supporting facilities, cultural experience elements that fail to reflect the spirit of venues, and leisure and entertainment activities that fail to attract tourists to participate, which needs further research and demonstration by future generations.

4.3. Structural Model

Before investigating the hypothesized relationships among the latent variables, the proposed factor structure was validated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). According to the suggestion of Anderson and Gerbing [52], a two-step method was adopted to verify the multi-attribute scale. The first step was to verify the measurement model for each structure, followed by testing the entire measurement model. The combination of reliability and validity of the structural equation model were found to be acceptable through confirmatory factor analysis.

Table 4. Goodness-of-fit indices for the measurement models.

	x2/df	RMSEA	CFI	AGFI	GFI	TLI	IFI
Index	<3	<0.080	>0.8	>0.8	>0.8	>0.8	>0.8
Actual	2.079	0.058	0.896	0.871	0.898	0.881	0.897

Source: author.

shows that each fitting index of the final model is within the acceptable range, so the structural equation model hypothesis is accepted (Figure 6 and Figure 7). The structural equation model results of the three industrial heritages are satisfactory, and the chi-square-to-freedom ratio (x²/df) is less than 3. The approximate root-mean-square error, RMSEA, is less than 0.08, indicating that the model has a good data fit [53]. Although the values of the GFI, AGFI, CFI, and TLI did not fully reach the ideal value, they were all greater than 0.8, which was within the acceptable range. This indicates that the model and data fit well [54].

The detailed path coefficient information among the latent variables of the three research sites is shown in

Table 5. Built environment and engagement influence path outcomes.

Explicit Variable	Route	Variable	EKA	M50	SFC
A1	<---	Environment	0.370 ***	1.000	0.150 *
A2	<---		0.550 ***	0.700 ***	0.480 ***
A3	<---		0.580 **	0.660 ***	0.400 ***
A4	<---		0.500 ***	0.620 ***	0.430 ***
A5	<---		0.510 **	0.610 ***	0.420 ***
A6	<---		1.000	0.920 ***	1.000
B1	<---	Perception	0.730 **	0.920 ***	1.000
B2	<---		1.000	0.690 **	0.910 ***
B3	<---		0.970 ***	0.820 ***	0.940 ***
B4	<---		0.660 **	1.000	0.860 ***
B5	<---		0.520 **	0.710 **	0.870 ***
C1	<---	Participation	0.660 **	1.000	0.570 *
C2	<---		0.610 **	0.800 ***	0.440 *
C3	<---		0.900 ***	0.630 **	1.000
C4	<---		0.830 **	0.880 ***	0.840 ***
C5	<---		1.000	0.580 *	0.820 ***
D1	<---	Satisfaction	0.660 **	1.000	1.000
D2	<---		0.610 **	0.840 **	0.720 **
D3	<---		0.900 ***	0.900 ***	0.760 **
D4	<---		0.830 **	1.000	0.960 ***
D5	<---		1.000	1.000	0.700 **

Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001; the path “<---” represents the built environment latent variable represented by the corresponding explicit variable. Source: author.

, which can be compared horizontally, and it was mainly used to reflect the relationships and influence degrees among the variables of industrial heritage tourism. As can be seen from

Table 6. Built environment correlation.

		A1	A2	A3	A4	A5	A6
A1	PCCs
	Sig
A2	PCCs	0.454
	Sig	<0.001
A3	PCCs	0.442	0.278
	Sig	<0.001	<0.001
A4	PCCs	0.324	0.209	0.247
	Sig	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
A5	PCCs	0.323	0.245	0.233	0.294
	Sig	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
A6	PCCs	0.410	0.360	0.323	0.382	0.371
	Sig	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001

Source: author.

and

Table 7. Participation correlation.

		C1	C2	C3	C4	C5
C1	PCCs
	Sig
C2	PCCs	0.346
	Sig	<0.001
C3	PCCs	0.350	0.271
	Sig	<0.001	<0.001
C4	PCCs	0.361	0.316	0.320
	Sig	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
C5	PCCs	0.321	0.251	0.230	0.384
	Sig	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001

Source: author.

, the Pearson correlation of the built environment and participation was used to measure the strength and direction of the linear relationship between the two continuous variables. The significance test was carried out to provide an important basis for data analysis and decision-making.

5. Discussion

By conducting a summary and study of the previous literature, we explore the causal relationships between the built environment, visitors’ participation, and overall satisfaction regarding the industrial heritage sites. This study also examines the influence factors and effects of the three main visitor participation modes, namely cultural activities, consumption activities, and leisure and entertainment, on the overall satisfaction with the venue. Satisfaction with the venue is reflected in the five experience modules proposed [39]. Generally, based on hypothesis testing, our results substantiate the assertion that environmental factors are more likely to stimulate the overall level of visitors’ satisfaction with the site than visitors’ participation. However, tourists’ subjective perception has no direct impact on satisfaction.

The findings make three major contributions to the existing body of knowledge. First of all, this study confirms the impacts of the built environment, visitor participation, and overall site satisfaction on industrial heritage tourism. Secondly, it is clear that cultural activities, consumption activities, and leisure and entertainment activities are all significant influence factors on overall satisfaction. Finally, the differences between men and women in regard to their participation in various kinds of experiential activities are clarified. It is found that women are more active in consumption activities, leisure and entertainment activities, activity enthusiasm, and educational activities than men, while men are more enthusiastic about cultural activities. Our findings also suggest that a visitor’s experience is largely determined by how they feel, think, and behave when they encounter rich stimuli at their destination. This finding is consistent with the research results of Chen et al. [23]. For example, artists’ exhibitions, sculpture exhibitions, and installation art exhibitions are held in the M50 Art Garden from time to time. At the Shanghai International Fashion Center, fashion activities and fashion carnivals are held from time to time. At the same time, EKA Tianwu’s immersive theater, lively bookstore, music festival, market, community activities, and other forms of literary life can bring visitors a rich experience. In our study, experiential engagement was identified as a trigger that easily inspired site satisfaction, but it was not as important as factors such as the built environment [23,38]. At the same time, our study also confirms the finding that perceived experience directly affects the emotion associated with a specific brand and ultimately leads to a favorable positive brand image [32,55]. Therefore, visitors who feel that visiting this industrial heritage site can touch their hearts, make them think, and engage in activities tend to have a more favorable, satisfying, and positive experience.

More importantly, cultural and social factors have a profound impact on tourists’ satisfaction in industrial heritage tourism. Visitors’ sense of cultural identity and alignment with social values at the site enhance emotional resonance, while educational functions and cultural diversity enrich their experience. In addition, the active participation of local communities and the integration of cultural activities help to enhance the sense of belonging and participation of tourists, and cultural differences in the context of globalization require tourism destinations to manage tourists’ expectations. Therefore, heritage tourism managers should take these factors into account to enhance tourist satisfaction.

6. Conclusions

6.1. Gender Differences in Activity Participation

There are significant differences between men and women in perception and experience, which is not only due to biological gender differences, but is also influenced by socio-cultural and psychological factors [56,57,58]. Studies have shown that men and women perceive differently at the sensory, emotional, and cognitive levels [59,60,61]. In this study, the independent sample t-test method of IMB SPSS Statistic 27.0 was used to analyze the experimental data, in which the F-value of each observed variable was significantly greater than 0.05, as shown in

Table 8. Independent sample t-tests.

		Levene’s Test for Variance Equality		Mean Equivalence t-Test
Measured Variable		F	Significance	t	DOF	Significance	Mean Difference	Standard Error Difference
C1	CV	0.234	0.629	0.387	320	0.699	0.04246	0.10968
	ANOVA			0.388	318.969	0.698	0.04246	0.10945
C2	CV	0.836	0.361	−0.547	320	0.585	−0.05813	0.10621
	ANOVA			−0.547	315.651	0.585	−0.05813	0.10630
C3	CV	0.269	0.604	−0.574	320	0.566	−0.06397	0.11137
	ANOVA			−0.573	313.651	0.567	−0.06397	0.11160
C4	CV	0.135	0.713	−0.186	320	0.852	−0.02015	0.10817
	ANOVA			−0.186	318.069	0.852	−0.02015	0.10805
C5	CV	0.698	0.404	−0.752	320	0.452	−0.08118	0.10791
	ANOVA			−0.754	319.01	0.451	−0.08118	0.10768

Source: author.

, and the average value could be derived with high confidence, as shown in

Table 9. Group table.

Measured Variable	Gender	Avg	Standard Deviation	Mean Standard Error
C1	1	3.8235	0.96502	0.07765
	2	3.7811	1.00267	0.07713
C2	1	3.8235	0.96052	0.07765
	2	3.8817	0.94375	0.07260
C3	1	3.6993	1.02009	0.08247
	2	3.7633	0.97752	0.07519
C4	1	3.8497	0.95815	0.07746
	2	3.8698	0.97936	0.07534
C5	1	3.8301	0.94445	0.07635
	2	3.9112	0.98702	0.07592

Source: author.

[62,63,64], that is, the original hypothesis was supported. According to the differences in the mean values, except for the difference in the cultural participation experience (C1), all the others are negative. This study shows that compared with men, women are more active in consumption activities, leisure and entertainment activities, activity enthusiasm, and educational activities (C2, C3, C4, C5), while men are more enthusiastic about cultural activities. Therefore, the research results suggest that the planners and managers of industrial heritage-related experience activities can reasonably arrange their audiences according to the relevant nature of the activities.

6.2. Comparison of Built Environment, Participation, and Tourism Satisfaction

We compared the path coefficient of different latent variables on the satisfaction path [36]; the greater the absolute value of the path coefficient, the greater the impact of the latent variable on satisfaction in general. Based on this study, a structural equation model (SEM) was used to obtain the actual loads of the two paths (Environment→Satisfaction Participation→Satisfaction), which were 0.63 and 0.77, respectively. According to the data, both the built environment and tourists’ participation have a significant impact on tourism satisfaction, which is consistent with the research results of Han and McIntosh et al. [14,37], but the impact of tourists’ participation on tourism satisfaction is more significant than that of the built environment. Research shows that visitors’ participation directly affects tourists’ overall experience perception of the tourist destination. By participating in activities and interacting with the local community, visitors gain a deeper understanding and experience of the culture, history, and customs of the destination, thereby increasing their satisfaction with the travel experience. In contrast, the built environment, although also important, has more impact on the vision and comfort of visitors, and may be relatively more indirectly related to the satisfaction experience of individuals.

Therefore, effective tourism management and strategies should focus on increasing visitors’ participation and enhancing their satisfaction with tourism activities by promoting their interactions with and experiences at the destination. This kind of engagement not only deepens tourists’ cultural identity and travel memories, but also enhances their emotional attachment to the destination, thus having a more positive and far-reaching impact on the overall travel experience.

6.3. The Mediating Effect of Subjective Perception

In the study of industrial heritage tourism satisfaction, subjective perception often plays an important intermediary role, affecting the built environment factors, tourists’ overall evaluation of tourism experience, and satisfaction. As for the mediating effect of subjective perception in satisfaction with industrial heritage, there is no special authoritative research case on it. Subjective perception can include personal cognition and evaluation of management service quality, industrial heritage attractiveness, transportation convenience, etc.

Independent variables, mediating variables, and dependent variables were determined, and relevant hypotheses were established [65]. The model was constructed in Amos, and the paths from the independent variable to the intermediate variable and the intermediate variable to the dependent variable were drawn, and the direct path from the independent variable to the dependent variable was added. We viewed the path coefficients and significance results by running the model and estimating the parameters.

The mediating effect test was carried out to check the mediating effect of latent variables in the model. This usually involves analyzing path coefficients and the size and significance of indirect effects. For example, the Bootstrap method can be used to estimate the confidence intervals of indirect effects (Figure 8) to verify whether the intermediary effect is significant, that is, whether the research data present a normal distribution relationship. If the 95% confidence interval for the indirect effect does not contain zero, it indicates that the intermediary effect is significantly present. By observing the mechanism of the influence of industrial heritage satisfaction, it is found that although the model results of the three sites differ in influence mechanism, they jointly verify the existence of the hypothetical path of “built environment–subjective perception–tourism satisfaction”. Through the comparison of the path verification, it is also found that tourists’ subjective perception and activity behavior do play a good mediating role in the impact of the objective built environment on satisfaction.

Subjective perception is negatively correlated with satisfaction with industrial heritage tourism, mainly due to the gap between tourists’ expectations and reality, differences in personal values and interests, deviations in information acquisition, deficiencies in environment and facilities, influences of social and cultural factors, and deficiencies in emotion and experience [66,67,68]. Satisfaction decreases when tourists’ expectations are not met or when they lack empathy with the destination.

In response to this phenomenon, heritage managers can conduct regular visitor satisfaction surveys to understand the real feelings and expectations of visitors. Secondly, they should set reasonable expectations in the marketing publicity, so as to avoid the decrease in satisfaction caused by the gap between expectations and reality. In addition, the quality and experience of tourism services can be improved, and the guided tour process and facilities can be improved to better meet the needs of tourists. At the same time, we suggest incorporating big data to provide personalized experiences, such as customized guided tours or interactive activities. Finally, digital landscape elements, such as AR and VR, can be used to enrich the visitor experience. We recommend setting up digital interactive exhibits that allow visitors to participate in the exploration of industrial heritage through touch screens, interactive devices, and multimedia displays.

Subjective perception not only directly affects tourists’ evaluations of their travel experiences, but also indirectly influences the formation of travel satisfaction by shaping their emotional and cognitive processes. Therefore, when formulating and implementing tourism service strategies, it is necessary to attach importance to and manage tourists’ subjective perceptions to enhance their overall satisfaction and loyalty to the tourism experience.

6.4. Hypothesis Testing

Table 10. Results of the proposed model.

Hypothesized Path	Site	β1	β2	Hypothesis Testing
H1: Environment→Satisfaction> Participation→Satisfaction	EKA	0.31	0.62	Not Supported
	M50	0.22	0.83
	SFC	0.36	0.73
H2: Environment→Participation	EKA	0.41		Supported
	M50	0.87
	SFC	0.21
H3: Satisfaction→C1	EKA	0.66		Supported
	M50	1.00
	SFC	0.57
H4: Satisfaction→C2	EKA	0.61		Supported
	M50	0.80
	SFC	0.44
H5: Satisfaction→C3	EKA	0.90		Supported
	M50	0.63
	SFC	1.00
H6: Participation→Satisfaction> Environment→Satisfaction	EKA	0.62	0.31	Supported
	M50	0.83	0.22
	SFC	0.73	0.36
H7: Perception→Satisfaction	EKA	−0.30		Not Supported
	M50	−0.30
	SFC	−0.77
H8: Environment →Perception→Satisfaction	EKA	0.79	−0.30	Supported
	M50	0.59	−0.30
	SFC	0.52	−0.77
H9: Participation→Perception→Satisfaction	EKA	−0.16	−0.30	Supported
	M50	0.36	−0.30
	SFC	0.15	−0.77

Source: author.

lists the nine hypotheses proposed in this paper. According to the field investigation and questionnaire data of the three sites, seven hypotheses are valid, and two hypotheses are not valid. The results show that cultural activities, consumption activities, leisure, and entertainment have a significant influence on overall satisfaction, and based on the comparison of the research results, it is concluded that the tourists’ participation has a greater effect on overall satisfaction than the built environment. Therefore, the test results of Hypothesis 1 are not supported by the reverse argument. Visitors are more likely to engage in a variety of experiential activities that attract their interest and engagement more effectively than the built environment alone. The results also illustrate the relationships between the built environment, visitor participation, and overall satisfaction. Visitors’ participation and feelings of participation in activities can significantly affect their overall satisfaction. When visitors can actively engage and interact, gaining insight into the historical and cultural value of industrial heritage, it usually enhances their tourist experience and satisfaction. Therefore, increasing visitor engagement and designing a quality built environment are crucial to improving the overall satisfaction with industrial heritage tourism, thus achieving the initial objectives set out in this paper.

The results show that subjective perception is negatively related to the satisfaction of industrial heritage tourism. When tourists’ expectations are too high and their actual experience is not satisfied, the satisfaction will be reduced. Negative feelings about emotions and experiences can also affect evaluations. In addition, tourists’ cultural background and social identity, information asymmetry, poor service quality, and a poor environment and atmosphere will all lead to a decline in subjective perception, thus affecting overall satisfaction [69]. Compared with the other two sites, tourists’ subjective perception of the SFC has the largest negative correlation with tourism satisfaction, which may be due to the comprehensive effect of multiple factors, such as the environment, service, the gap between expectation and reality, and social culture. In particular, the services provided by the SFC are relatively simple compared with the other two, mainly focusing on brand sales, while the other two combine exhibition appreciation and interactive experience, and the services are more diversified.

6.5. Advice to Managers

According to the experimental data and conclusions obtained in this paper, the following suggestions can be provided for city managers and protectors of industrial heritage.

First of all, considering the audience of experiential activities, women show a higher degree of activity in consumption activities, leisure and entertainment, and active participation in social education, while men are more inclined to participate in cultural activities. Women pay more attention to personal growth, social interaction, and physical and mental health, so in the event design, we can focus on providing social, informative, or creative experience content to attract the participation and input of female audiences. Men, on the other hand, tend to prefer activities of a cultural nature, such as art exhibitions and history lectures, which reflect their interest in deep thinking and professional fields. Therefore, activity positioning and content planning for different gender groups can more accurately meet their interests and needs, thus enhancing the attractiveness of and participation in activities.

Secondly, the study found that in industrial heritage, tourists are more active in participating in experiential activities than in the built environment. Research shows that industrial heritage, as an important part of cultural tourism, is attractive because of the unique nature of its experience. Compared with the traditional built environment, industrial heritage can stimulate the enthusiasm of tourists to participate in experiential activities because of its rich history, unique spatial layout, and technological characteristics. These activities, including visits to industrial facilities, interactive process experiences, and industrial culture interpretation, not only allow visitors to experience the changes of history and industrial processes, but also enhance their sense of participation and depth of memory through participatory learning and experience. Through VR technology, visitors can take a virtual tour of industrial heritage sites that are hard to reach in reality, such as laboratories, factory floors, or historic buildings. This immersive experience not only enhances the visitor’s sense of interaction and immersive feeling, but also enables them to glimpse through time the important nodes of the industrial revolution and the evolution of technological progress. Dedicated VR applications can be developed to provide virtual tours, experience stations can be set up for visitors to use the devices to visit, interactive devices can be introduced to enhance the sense of engagement, VR videos can be created to recreate important historical events, and real-time information can be integrated into the system. These measures are designed to enhance the overall experience and satisfaction of visitors. Integrating experiential activities into the development and management of industrial heritage can not only enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of scenic spots, but also enrich the cultural experience of and educational value for tourists, and promote the sustainable development of the local economy. Therefore, adding more attractive experiential activities can more effectively stimulate visitors’ satisfaction with the site, and thus achieve higher economic benefits.

Finally, this study verifies the mediating effect of the subjective perception of industrial heritage, which is negatively correlated with site satisfaction, which may be caused by visitors’ cognitive biases, lack of information and explanation, cultural differences, and differences between their expectations and experiences, etc., which may also imply that the particularity of the site itself and its cultural background have a profound impact on tourists’ experience. Therefore, considering these factors, in the development and management of industrial heritage tourism destinations, attention should be paid not only to the protection and beautification of the site itself, but also to how to effectively improve the overall satisfaction and perceived quality of visitors by improving the quality and depth of the visiting experience. At the same time, we should pay attention to the important role of industrial cultural output in comprehensive satisfaction, enhancing visitors’ in-depth understanding of local culture, and then obtaining a cultural identity.

This paper also has some shortcomings. First, due to the limitations of data acquisition approaches and methods, the selection of built environment indicators of Shanghai’s industrial heritage is limited, and it is unable to fully explain the current human settlement environment of industrial heritage transformation. Second, the subjective perception of industrial heritage visitors selected in this paper has no direct impact on site satisfaction, so the measurement of loyalty and behavioral intention should be added to future research. Third, this paper mainly uses cross-sectional data, which can not well reveal the longitudinal mechanism of the impact of the built environment and the evolution of participation on overall site satisfaction within the scope of daily activities.

Future studies can overcome the existing limitations and provide a more comprehensive perspective and analysis, especially in the selection of indicators of the built environment of Shanghai’s industrial heritage, to gain a better understanding of its impact on the human settlement environment. In addition, the inclusion of dimensions such as loyalty and behavioral intention will build a more complex satisfaction model and reveal the internal mechanisms of tourist satisfaction. Using longitudinal data analysis, we can further explore the evolving relationship between the built environment and visitor engagement, and identify the influence of time factors on satisfaction. These improvements will provide policymakers and managers with more effective strategies to promote the sustainable development of industrial heritage tourism.