Effect of Traditional Village Landscape Genes on Tourists' Image Construction: Case Study of Zhangguying Village

Abstract: Landscape genes and destination image are important concepts in the traditional village tourist destination research. Clarifying their relationship is of great significance for understanding tourists' behavioral characteristics at traditional village sites and promoting the sustainable development of traditional village tourism. This study analyzes the relationship between landscape genes and tourists' image construction in Zhangguying Village. It uses a structural equation model to identify and extract traditional village landscape genes used in tourists' image construction, based on the “cognitive-affective-overall” framework. The results show that: (1) Traditional village landscape genes play important but varying roles in tourists' image construction. The “丰”-shaped zigzag structure architectural gene plays the most important role in tourists' cognitive image construction followed by the filial piety and family style cultural gene and the “回”-shaped courtyard layout gene. The “dragon”-shaped mountain layout environmental gene has the least important role. (2) The mediation effect analysis reveals that tourists' cognitive images mediate the relationship between landscape genes and overall image construction, while cognitive and affective images mediate the relationship between landscape genes and overall images. (3) The multicluster analysis reveals that the results significantly differ according to tourists' gender, age, number of trips, and place of permanent residence. The findings enrich the traditional village landscape image research and promote the sustainable development of traditional village tourism through the practices of cultural landscape protection and inheritance.