When Essence is Lost: The Consequences of Commercialization in Historical Towns
基于心理本质主义理论，通过实地调查和实验研究发现商业化会降低游客对历史古镇的偏好，原因是游客感知到古镇本质的丧失，且这种负面效应受开发模式和怀旧倾向调节。
With the progress of tourism commercialization, historical towns are becoming more accessible and vulnerable than ever before. Drawing on psychological essentialism theory, in this research, a theoretical framework for understanding the consequences of commercialization is developed and tested. Through one field survey and three experimental studies, we reveal that commercialization has a negative effect on tourist preference (attitude and visit intention) for historical towns and that this negative effect is mediated by perceived essence loss. Furthermore, our moderating analysis reveals that the detrimental effect of commercialization can vary by development mechanism (e.g., exogenous mode or endogenous mode) and individual characteristics (e.g., nostalgia-proneness).