Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) tourism links living cultural practices with preservation, identity, and sustainable development. Tourists are active interpreters whose post-visit behaviours can influence cultural circulation and continuity. The construct of tourists’ willingness to support ICH inheritance in this study refers to intentions to aid continuity through cultural communication, continued attention, participation in inheritance-related activities, or contributing time or financial resources. It does not imply that tourists replace community custodians or master heritage skills; rather, it captures the complementary supportive role visitors may play.
The present study investigates how two complementary experiential domains—ritualized experiences and perceived authenticity—are associated with tourists’ willingness to support ICH inheritance. It integrates differentiated experiential dimensions, examines net associations, and explores configurational pathways using both structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Ritualized experiences are framed as multidimensional and distinct from ordinary sightseeing. In folklore-based ICH tourism these experiences are co-constructed by organizers, performers, local communities, and tourists and manifest in the atmosphere, symbolic order, bodily participation, and non-utilitarian practices. The study conceptualizes ritualized experiences through four dimensions:
These dimensions are hypothesized to shape tourists’ perceptions of cultural distinctiveness and significance, which in turn may influence their support for ICH transmission.
Perceived authenticity in heritage settings is multidimensional. Drawing on established typologies, the study distinguishes three dimensions:
These dimensions are theorized to operate through different mechanisms: objective authenticity strengthens trust in cultural credibility, constructive authenticity reflects negotiated symbolic meaning, and existential authenticity fosters emotional attachment that may encourage supportive behaviours.
Gansu Shehuo, a representative form of Chinese folk ICH, combines ritual procedures, folk performance, local symbols, and community interaction, making it suitable for studying how ritual distinctiveness and authenticity perceptions translate into willingness to support ICH inheritance. The study set out four objectives: (1) identify dimensions of ritualized experiences and perceived authenticity and assess their net associations with willingness to support ICH inheritance; (2) test whether any single dimension is a necessary condition; (3) uncover configurational pathways associated with high willingness; and (4) combine necessity analysis with fsQCA to explain asymmetric configurational relationships.
The empirical analysis used 390 valid questionnaires collected at Gansu Shehuo. Ritualized experience dimensions and perceived authenticity dimensions were measured and analyzed using SEM to estimate differentiated net effects. Complementary configurational analysis employed necessity testing and fsQCA to identify combinations of antecedent conditions associated with high and low willingness to support inheritance. This mixed approach allows examination of both independent associations and alternative causal pathways.
SEM results reported significant positive associations between the following predictors and tourists’ willingness to support ICH inheritance: uniqueness, ceremoniality, non-functionality, objective authenticity, and existential authenticity. By contrast, commitment and constructive authenticity showed no significant direct effects on willingness in the SEM models. These findings suggest that experiential cues signaling distinctiveness, symbolic order, historical credibility, and lived genuineness matter for cultivating supportive intentions, while some dimensions (commitment, constructive authenticity) did not directly predict willingness in this sample.
Necessity analysis indicated that no single antecedent condition was necessary for either high or low willingness to support ICH inheritance. The fsQCA identified six distinct configurations leading to high willingness and one configuration associated with low willingness. These results demonstrate equifinality—multiple alternative pathways can produce the same outcome—and causal asymmetry—conditions leading to high willingness are not simply the inverse of those leading to low willingness.
The combined SEM and fsQCA findings imply that sustainable ICH revitalization benefits from coordinated development across multiple experiential domains rather than isolated enhancements. Specifically, strengthening ritual distinctiveness (uniqueness, ceremoniality, non-functionality), ensuring historical credibility (objective authenticity), and fostering lived authenticity (existential authenticity) together create conditions conducive to tourists’ willingness to support ICH inheritance. Policy and practice aimed at cultural sustainability should consider how ritual organization, symbolic order, interpretive framing, and opportunities for meaningful presence interact to encourage visitor support.
The study focused on a single empirical context—Gansu Shehuo—which is appropriate for examining folklore-based ICH but may limit generalizability to other ICH forms or cultural contexts. The source reports the main analytical approaches and results but does not detail measurement items or all model fit indices in the provided text. Future research could replicate the mixed SEM–fsQCA approach across diverse ICH settings, further unpack the roles of commitment and constructive authenticity, and examine longitudinal links between tourist intentions and actual supportive behaviours.
Data underlying this study are available on Figshare, and funding was provided by the Gansu Provincial Department of Science and Technology (Grant No.24YFGA047).