Relationship between body involvement and post-trip behavioral intention in sports tourism: an embodied cognition perspective

Purpose Based on the theory of embodied cognition, this study uses the Mehrabian–Rusell model to explore the influence of tourists’ body involvement during sports vacations on their post-trip behavioral intention, as well as the regulatory role of tourism involvement in this process. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses, mediating effects and moderating effects. The data were collected through an online survey of 631 visitors to sports tourism destinations in China. Findings Proprioception and kinesthesia in sports tourism activities can affect post-trip behavioral intention through body arousal and tourism satisfaction. Tourism involvement positively regulates the influence of body embeddedness and body arousal on tourism satisfaction. Furthermore, a “threshold effect” exists in the emotional effect of tourists’ body involvement. Practical implications To develop sports tourism, it is important to take the following steps: create multi-sensory stimulation to improve the physical participation of tourists in sports tourism activities, design sports resorts that cater to people of different age groups, evaluate tourists’ satisfaction and use their feedback to make continuous improvements, improve the basic convenience services offered at sports resorts, use social media to display the unique physical environment and others characteristics of sports destinations to expand popularity. Originality/value This study constructs a conceptual model of the influence mechanism of tourists’ body involvement on post-trip behavioral intention to present valuable insights that could help promote the sustainable development of sports tourism.