Yesterday once more? Autobiographical memory evocation effects on tourists' post-travel purchase intentions toward destination products

When tourists return home from a remote tourism destination, it is not uncommon for them to encounter the destination's products being sold in their hometown. Autobiographical memory evocation is likely to affect their purchase intentions. This study aims to examine the effects of autobiographical memory evocation on behavioral responses. A conceptual model was developed to examine the causal relationships of product-destination congruity, travel satisfaction, autobiographical memory, evoked pleasure, destination attachment and purchase intention. Data were obtained from 342 tourists who had visited the heritage city of Lijiang, China. Autobiographical memory is found to lead to pleasure and a positive mood, higher levels of destination attachment, and greater purchase intentions for the product available in the tourist's hometown. Managerial implications are discussed.