The Role of Emotions in a Model of Behavioral Intentions of Visitors to the Gaudí Historic House Museums in Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

This study examined an integrated model of behavioral intentions toward historic house museums, through the simultaneous relation- ships among visitors’perceptions of the historic house museum, crowd- ing, interactions with employees, emotions about their visit, intention to revisit the museum and recommend it to others, and the modera- tor effect of price fairness. Seven hundred thirty-six visitors were sur- veyed after visiting LaPedrera and CasaBatlló , the historic house muse- ums of the architect Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona. The results from a struc- tural equation model indicate that visitors’ perception of the historic house museum (i.e., their appreciation of the houses’ architecture, aes- thetic quality, artistic work, and accessibility), visitors’ positive interac- tions with employees, and low levels of crowding are antecedents of positive emotions, and visitors’positive emotions about their visit are a predictor of intentions to revisit and recommend the museum to oth- ers. In addition, price fairness was tested as a moderator effect using multigroup analysis. This analysis consists of comparing two subsam- ples of visitors, which were selected according to whether they believe the admission price is fair or unfair. The effect between perceptions of the historic house museum and positive emotions, and the effect of pos- itive emotions on behavioral intentions is greater for visitors who found the price fair than for those who found the price unfair. The results lead to recommendations for cultural heritage managers.