The Influence of Environmental Restorative Perception on Post-visit Behavioral Intentions of TCM Cultural Tourists

Under the Healthy China Strategy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) cultural tourism is evolving into a significant new tourism format due to its unique cultural connotations and health attributes, where the TCM concepts of &quotpreventive treatment&quot (zhi wei bing) and holistic healthcare closely align with contemporary society’s diversified demands for physical and mental well-being. Grounded in the S-O-R-M theoretical framework, this study examines the influence of environmental restorative perception on tourists’ post-visit behavioral intentions within TCM cultural tourism contexts, specifically positioning environmental restorative perception as the stimulus variable (S), TCM tourists’ eudaimonic well-being (meaning-driven fulfillment) and hedonic well-being (pleasure-driven enjoyment) as organismic variables (O), post-visit behavioral intentions as the response variable (R), and introducing health awareness as the moderating variable (M). Through questionnaire-based data collection and structural equation modeling analysis, the results demonstrate that: (1) environmental restorative perception exerts a significant positive influence on TCM cultural tourists’ post-visit behavioral intentions; (2) both eudaimonic and hedonic well-being significantly mediate the relationship between environmental restorative perception and behavioral intentions; (3) health awareness positively moderates the effects of environmental restorative perception on both forms of well-being. These findings validate the applicability of environmental restorative perception theory in TCM tourism settings, provide theoretical foundations for designing TCM cultural tourism experiences, reveal the mediating role of well-being in enhancing visitors’ behavioral intentions, offer practical guidance for developing differentiated experiences for health-sensitive tourists, and ultimately contribute to the living heritage transmission of TCM culture and sustainable industry development.