Dual pathways to destination loyalty: affective and cognitive responses to environmental information

Abstract

Large-scale festival events attract substantial seasonal visitation but often struggle to translate short-term participation into enduring destination loyalty. This study examines how visitors interpret environmental information in a festival setting and how these interpretations shape loyalty through distinct, effective, and cognitive pathways. Drawing on Environmental Information Theory (EIT), environmental information is conceptualised as four dimensions, categorised into cognitive and affective processing routes. Visitor type (first-time vs. repeat) is examined as a categorical moderator. Using structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) on data from 456 visitors to the Penghu International Fireworks Festival, the findings reveal that memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) and destination preference operate as interconnected yet distinct mechanisms underlying loyalty formation. Affective environmental information enhances hedonic value and MTEs, which contribute to loyalty both directly through emotional memory and indirectly through their influence on cognitive preference formation. Cognitive environmental information increases utilitarian value, thereby strengthening evaluative preference and subsequently reinforcing loyalty. Results further reveal a boundary condition: visitor type significantly moderates the final paths to loyalty formation. These insights advance understanding of how environmental informational cues shape post-visit behaviour by demonstrating that MTEs operate through multiple routes to loyalty and highlight how festival environments can foster more sustained destination engagement.