Night tourscape in streets: Scale development and validation

Abstract

Night tourscape is vital in attracting tourist interest and shaping their experience, which affects the vitality and sustainability of night tourism. Nonetheless, how to measure night tourscape remains unclear. This study thus used mixed research methods to develop a measurement scale of night tourscape. Results confirmed a night tourscape measurement scale with 19 items and four dimensions: spatial environment, culture display, employee representation, and business atmosphere. The scale has high reliability and convergent, construct, and discriminant validity. We also found the criterion validity of night tourscape by demonstrating its positive influence on recommendation intention. This study develops a night tourscape scale and contributes a valuable tool for comprehensively understanding the night tourism environment, which advances prior qualitative findings and paves the way for future quantitative research. The findings also have managerial relevance for optimal night tourscape design and achievement of night tourism competitiveness.