Is belief necessary? Narrative engagement, authenticity, and visit intention in haunted heritage tourism

This study interrogates a foundational assumption in haunted heritage tourism research: whether paranormal belief is a necessary determinant of visit intention. Based on a large-scale sample of 2,716 verified haunted heritage visitors, the study tests a structural model integrating Experiential Novelty and Arousal, Risk Perception, Narrative Transportation, Perceived Haunted Authenticity, and Paranormal Belief Openness. Results indicate that experiential novelty positively predicts visit intention, while perceived risk exerts a significant negative influence. Narrative transportation enhances perceived haunted authenticity, which in turn strengthens behavioral intention. Paranormal belief openness significantly predicts both narrative transportation and authenticity perception but does not exert a direct effect on visit intention. Instead, its influence operates through sequential mediation, indicating a configuration in which belief functions through symbolic mechanisms rather than as a direct behavioral driver. In haunted heritage contexts, intention emerges not from conviction alone but from the transformation of epistemic openness into narratively absorbed and authenticity-validated experience. The study advances authenticity theory within heritage tourism and proposes a mediated model of visitor agency grounded in narrative interpretation and symbolic stabilization.