Familiarity, Value, and the Emotional Logic of Loyalty: A Rural Tourism Study in Indonesia

Abstract: This study investigates how familiarity and perceived value influence tourist satisfaction and revisit intention within the context of a rural, community-based tourism destination—Desa Wisata Tinalah in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Despite extensive literature recognizing the roles of familiarity and value in tourism loyalty, few studies have examined their combined effects within a unified model in a rural setting. Using a quantitative explanatory design, the research surveyed 120 tourists who had previously visited the village, employing a structured questionnaire derived from validated scales. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test both direct and mediating relationships among familiarity, perceived value, satisfaction, and revisit intention. Results reveal that familiarity has a significant positive impact on both satisfaction and revisit intention, underscoring its affective and cognitive role in loyalty formation. Although perceived value does not significantly influence satisfaction, it directly affects revisit intention, suggesting a rational pathway distinct from emotional fulfillment. Satisfaction itself emerges as a crucial mediator in transforming familiarity into behavioral commitment. These findings extend loyalty theory by integrating emotional comfort and economic evaluation within a rural tourism framework, highlighting the coexistence rather than the opposition of affective and rational decision-making. Practical implications suggest that destination managers should foster emotional bonds through personal engagement strategies while maintaining transparent communication of the destination’s social and environmental value. The study contributes to the growing body of research on sustainable rural tourism by offering a contextualized understanding of visitor retention mechanisms in Southeast Asia.