Uncovering the critical drivers of tourists’ willingness to pay a premium for souvenirs: a mixed-method approach

The emergence of the internet has expanded souvenir buying opportunities and provided cheaper and more convenient options, but why are tourists still willing to pay a premium for souvenirs at the destination? We explore a widespread but understudied phenomenon in society through a two-step mixed research approach. We first conduct exploratory research to explore the influencing factors and unknown psychological processes and build our theoretical model of willingness to pay a premium (WTPP) for souvenirs based on 26 respondents' semi-structured interview data. The model was then tested using 503 survey data. The results reveal how the tourism experience presence, tourism experience enhancement, tourism experience attachment, and social relationship reciprocity affect the WTPP for souvenirs through emotional response. The conclusions enrich the research on the purchasing behaviour of souvenirs and provide practical implications for the marketing and design of souvenirs.