Rural tourism servicescape's influence on experiential value and citizenship behavior

Rural tourism servicescape, characterized by unique dimensions of atmosphere (organic physicality), service staff (adaptive professionalism), and rural residents (cultural transmission), serves as critical stimuli shaping tourist experiences. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study investigates how these dimensions influence tourists' emotional and social value (organism) and, subsequently, their citizenship behavior (response). Using structural equation modeling (SEM) and survey data (449 valid questionnaire) from Houhuang Village and Meizhou Island in Putian City, China, results demonstrate that all three servicescape dimensions significantly enhance emotional and social value, with service staff exerting the strongest influence. Both emotional and social value positively drive citizenship behavior, with social value having a greater impact. Crucially, emotional and social value fully mediate the effect of rural residents on citizenship behavior, while partially mediating the effects of atmosphere and service staff. Notably, the pathway through service staff → social value → citizenship behavior emerges as the strongest. These findings, particularly the mediation asymmetry, provide targeted strategies for optimizing rural tourism servicescapes, emphasizing staff cultural brokering, authentic resident engagement, and dual-path environmental design to foster sustainable development through enhanced tourist citizenship.