ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1655120
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Intersection of Psychology, Healthy Behaviors, and its OutcomesView all 125 articles
Perceived value and tourist donation intentions at religious heritage sites: The mediating roles of awe and subjective well-being
Provisionally accepted
- 1City University of Macau, Taipa, Macao, SAR China
- 2Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macao, SAR China
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Religious heritage tourism plays a crucial role in cultural preservation and economic sustainability. This study adopts the SOR theory to examine how tourists' value about religious heritage sites influences their willingness to donate, emphasizing the mediating role of awe and subjective well-being. Moreover, the study examines the moderating role of religiosity in this process. Using data from 529 visitors to the A-Ma Temple in Macau and employing PLS-SEM analysis, the results demonstrate that perceived value positively affects donation intentions both directly and indirectly through awe and subjective well-being. Furthermore, this study identifies religiosity as a significant moderating factor: higher levels of religiosity strengthen the positive effects of awe and subjective well-being on donation intentions. By constructing the SOR framework, this study advances theoretical understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying tourists' donation behaviors. The findings have significant implications for heritage site management, suggesting that enhancing tourists' emotional and spiritual experiences can foster sustainable financial support for religious heritage conservation.
Keywords: religious heritage tourism, perceived value, Donation intention, awe, Subjectivewell-being, Religiosity
Received: 27 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yu, Li and Cao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yu Cao, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macao, SAR China
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