Resistance intention and its drivers in night market visit failure

Purpose: Drawing upon the cognitive appraisal theory, our study aims to fill the research gap in the literature related to night tourism and night market visits. The knowledge about how a night market visit fails is also enriched. Design/methodology/approach: Three studies have been made using a mixed-method design. Study 1 focuses on personal interviews and Studies 2 and 3 consist of experimental research. Study 1 aimed to explore the major causes of the night market failure. Studies 2 and 3 designed different failure scenarios to test visitor’s cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses. Content analysis was adopted for Study 1. Analysis of covariance and partial least squares structural equation modeling were used for Studies 2 and 3. Findings: The results reveal that a lack of item diversity, environmental insanitation and crowdedness are three major causes of night market visit failure. This visit failure leads to visitors’ disappointment and resistance intention toward the night market. Originality/value: Previous studies have not attached adequate importance to tourism failure. By extending the application of cognitive appraisal theory, the research value also lies in the exploration of interrelationships among visit failure, disappointment and resistance intention in night markets.