A Multi-Stakeholder Perception Model of Study Tour Resources: A Grounded Theory Study

Understanding stakeholders’ perceptions of study tour resources is essential for improving resource planning, enhancing program quality, and fostering more sustainable tourism practices. In this study, "study tour resources" refers to the educational, cultural, natural, and service elements, among others, that support experiential learning during organized study tour activities. This study addresses the research question: What are the key dimensions of stakeholders’ perceptions of study tour resources, and how do these dimensions interact to form a coherent perception model? Our study endeavors to construct a comprehensive perception model of stakeholders regarding study tour resources. To achieve this end, guided by constructivist grounded theory, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 128 stakeholders in Rushan City, China. With the assistance of the NVivo data analysis tool, 4377 initial codes were marked, 42 focused codes were refined, 15 sub-categories were further extracted, and ultimately five categories were condensed. By exploring the promotion and restriction relationship among the five categories, a five-dimensional perception model of stakeholders regarding study tour resources was constructed. We discovered that there exist differences in the perception degree of different hierarchical categories and the perception focus of different stakeholders. This study extends the explanatory boundaries of the "cognitive-affective-conative" three-dimensional perception model and provides a reference for the evaluation and development of China's study tour resources.