Short-video content perceptions, intention, and self-reported behavior in special forces-style tourism: Evidence from Chinese generation Z university students

Special Forces-style tourism is an emerging high-intensity, low-cost travel phenomenon among young people in China. Drawing on a modified Theory of Planned Behavior, this study analyzes survey data from 526 Chinese Generation Z university students using PLS-SEM and fsQCA. Perceived content appeal, perceived content trustworthiness, attitude, and perceived behavioral control are positively associated with intention, which is positively associated with self-reported behavior; short-video platform usage intensity strengthens this association. fsQCA identifies two configurations for high and eight for low self-reported behavior. Intention, perceived content trustworthiness, perceived behavioral control, and platform usage intensity form the common core of both high-outcome configurations, while low perceived content trustworthiness appears in six low-outcome configurations. No single condition is necessary, and the results indicate configurational asymmetry.