Abstract
Thanks to the sustainable and rapid development of China’s economy, the tourism industry in China has developed rapidly in the past years. Theme Park, as an important part of the cultural tourism industry, has become more and more popular at home and abroad. Theme parks not only satisfy tourists’ various entertainment and leisure needs but also give them a unique experience with the use of creativity and high-tech means (i.e., virtual reality, augmented reality, and many other digital technologies). Unlike traditional amusement parks, which simply introduce some entertainment facilities, theme parks are characterized by certain themes, large scale, innovations, and diversifications. By the end of 2019, there are nearly 3,000 theme parks of different sizes in China, of which more than 300 have an investment scale of over RMB 50 million Yuan.
The theme park industry has a broad prospect and strong demand, but at the same time, it has been witnessing fierce competitions. Moreover, companies in this industry have to meet high requirements on the ability of pre-planning, investment and construction, operation and management, innovation and exploration, etc. According to a report launched by Foresight Industry Research Institute[ Foresight Industry Research Institute was founded in 1998 in Tsinghua Campus, aiming to provide industrial planning consultation for various organizations, such as corporations, governments, research institutes. ], more than 70% of China’s theme parks were at a loss, 20% could barely balance their profits and losses, and only 10% could achieve profitability. In terms of their business models, most of China’s theme parks have mainly depended on generating revenue from tickets, consumer loyalty is insufficient, and the profit margin created by secondary consumption is very limited. The so-called secondary consumption in this research includes not only the ticket consumption brought by tourists’ follow-up revisiting but also other consumption in the park (i.e., cultural derivative products and meals at the park). In the field of academic research, although more and more scholars are paying attention to the factors affecting the satisfaction of tourists in theme parks, they have not deeply explored the impact of tourist satisfaction on their following consumption behaviors in the same theme parks, and, in particular, their secondary consumption.
In addition, culture and technology have become the breakthrough points of theme parks. The theme of “Intellectual Property (IP)” has been adopted by more and more theme parks under the influence of Disneyland. However, scholars of themem parks haven’t conducted in-depth research on how IP influences theme parks’ operation.
In order to make up for the gaps described above, and to contribute to the operation of the theme park industry, this study will try to answer the following three research questions: (1) What are the main factors determining tourist satisfaction in theme parks? (2) Will higher tourist satisfaction bring higher benefits to theme parks? (3) How does IP influence the operation of the theme park and its value creation? In short, this study will disclose the antecedents and consequences of theme parks’ tourists satisfaction, with IP as a moderator.
This study selected Wuhu Fantawild Theme Park as a sample to study the above research questions. Wuhu Fantawild Theme Park is a national 5A level scenic spot that implements the “Culture and Technology” strategy. It is one of the largest fourth-generation theme parks in China, with a total investment of RMB 6.25 billion yuan. Learning from Disneyland’s experience, the Wuhu Fantawild Theme Park has explored how to integrate its own “Boonie Bears” IP and Chinese Traditional Culture IP into its operation, and has made significant achivements in the past years.
This study designed three research phases: 1) the preliminary research phase, 2) the questionnaire study phase, and 3) the in-depth interview study phase. It combines two common empirical research methodologies—quantitative research methods and qualitative research methods.
The preliminary research phase aims to gain a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the research and the practice of theme parks, by focusing on the following keywords: theme park, tourist satisfaction, intention to revisit, “intellectual property (IP), etc.. Meanwhile, the target of the preliminary research is to establish a theoretical model and come up with hypotheses accordingly around the research questions, and lay the foundation for the following questionnaire study and the in-dpeth interview study. In the questionnaire research phase, this study has collected a total of 475 valid questionnaires from tourists of the Wuhu Fantawild theme park. After the extreme value analysis, this study applies the exploratory factor analysis method to study the influencing factors of tourist satisfaction, and carries out the reliability test, and then clearly defines the variables. Afterwards, the hypotheses are tested by the Structural Equation Model (SEM). During the interview research phase, this study has invited ten tourists to conduct focus group and conducted in-depth interviews with three managers of Wuhu Fantawild to fully understand the factors of tourists’ satisfaction and secondary consumption. The findings of the study provide strong support and explanation.
The results show that six out of nine hypotheses have been verified. The analysis of qualitative research also provides supports for these six verified hypotheses, and offers supplementary explanations for the unverified hypothesis. The main findings of this study include:
First, tourists are more satisfied when they have a higher level of participation in the theme park. Second, when tourists are more satisfied with a theme park, they are more likely to create more value for the theme park (by re-visiting the them park or recommending others to visit the theme park). Third, the tourists’ participation in theme parks can influence the process of the theme parks’ value creation through the intermediary role of their satisfaction. Fourth, the higher the level of IP (measured by the awareness of tourists to the theme park IP), the greater the likelihood that they will create value for the theme park once they are satisfied with the visit. Fifth, the tourists’ participation in the theme park affects the process of the theme parks’ value creation through their satisfaction, and it is moderated by IP.
This research promotes academic research on theme parks’ tourist satisfaction, secondary consumption, and the role of IP in theme parks. The conclusions also provide a valuable reference for the operation of theme parks. In summary, the innovations and contributions of this research are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
First, the study considers the important factor of IP (as a moderator variable) based on the existing literature on the theme park and aims to identify the impact of IP on the value creation process. Secondly, most of the research has focused on the tourist revisit rate (or the intention to revisit) or the intention to recommend in the past. Based on existing research, this study also considers the tourists’ consumption behaviour (that is, the consumption structure of products or services purchased during the tour) as the dependent variable. Finally, this study has important implications for how cultural and creative industries use IP to create value and to the exploration of their profit model.