Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation Scale

Abstract

The Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation (CIBI) Scale, developed by Wang et al. (2023), provides a structured psychometric tool designed to evaluate the practical performance and multidimensional structure of CIBI specifically within heritage tourism destinations (HTDs). The development process began with an intensive qualitative phase, involving in-depth interviews with stakeholders from HTDs across China to establish conceptual depth and item relevance.

The final instrument consists of 13 items distributed across four core dimensions. Subsequent quantitative validation, conducted using a sample of Chinese tourists, confirmed robust psychometric properties, including detailed reporting on factor analysis, validity, and reliability. The scale serves to enrich the theoretical understanding of cultural innovation in the tourism sector and stimulate academic discourse concerning the vital link between cultural innovation and sustainable development outcomes.

Keywords

Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation Assessment, Heritage Tourism Destinations, Cultural Innovation, Sustainable Development, Cultural Transforming Creation, Cultural Living Display, Cultural Creative Dissemination, Cultural Authentic Production, Psychometrics, Tourism Management.

Authors

Wang, Mei-Yu, Li, Yong-Quan, Ruan, Wen-Qi, Zhang, Shu-Ning, Li, Rui.

Purpose

The fundamental purpose of the Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation (CIBI) Scale is twofold. Firstly, it aims to provide a rigorous, empirically tested instrument for quantifying the practical extent of cultural innovation implemented at tourism destinations that rely on historical or cultural heritage.

Secondly, the scale was created to expand the theoretical knowledge base surrounding cultural innovation within the tourism context. By measuring CIBI performance, the scale facilitates deeper discussion and empirical investigation into how successful cultural innovation contributes directly to the long-term viability and sustainable development of heritage tourism destinations.

Construct

The CIBI Scale measures the latent construct of Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation, defined as the practical performance of transforming and creatively disseminating cultural heritage assets within a tourism context. This construct is conceptualized as a second-order factor composed of four distinct, yet related, first-order dimensions, which collectively capture the comprehensive efforts of HTDs to modernize and leverage their cultural resources.

The four structural dimensions of CIBI measured by the scale are: Cultural Authentic Production, focusing on the preservation of traditional materials and cultural meanings; Cultural Creative Dissemination, relating to branding and utilizing new media for outreach; Cultural Living Display, involving the immersive presentation of heritage using technology; and Cultural Transforming Creation, addressing the adaptation of products and services to contemporary life while maintaining cultural integrity.

Validity

The scale demonstrates strong evidence across multiple facets of validity, confirming that it accurately measures the intended construct of Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation.

• Construct Validity: High construct validity was established, with standardized loadings for all 13 items exceeding the 0.6 threshold. Collectively, these items accounted for 71.392% of the total variance, indicating that the scale’s structure aligns well with the theoretical framework of CIBI.

• Convergent Validity: Convergent validity metrics were excellent. The Composite Reliability (CR) for every dimension surpassed the benchmark of 0.7, and the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for each dimension was above the 0.5 minimum threshold.

• Discriminant Validity: Good discriminant validity was observed, as the inter-construct correlation coefficients (ranging from 0.3 to 0.7) were consistently lower than the square root of the AVEs for the respective constructs, confirming that the dimensions are distinct yet related.

• Predictive Validity: The CIBI construct exhibited strong predictive power, showing significant positive effects on key behavioral outcomes: tourist satisfaction (r = 0.749, p < 0.001) and recommendation intention (r = 0.690, p < 0.001). Furthermore, each of the four underlying dimensions also positively predicted these outcomes, supporting the scale’s ability to forecast relevant tourist behaviors.

Reliability

The CIBI Scale exhibits a high level of internal consistency, confirming its reliability. The Cronbach’s alpha value calculated for every dimension of the scale exceeded 0.839. This result signifies very good reliability, suggesting that the items within each subscale consistently measure the same underlying dimension of Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation.

Factor Analysis

The scale development involved rigorous statistical testing through both Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (EFA and CFA).

Exploratory Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis: Initial development utilized EFA and PCA, resulting in a finalized 13-item scale structured across four factors. All factor loadings were robust, ranging from 0.726 to 0.854, and commonalities fell between 0.744 and 0.860. These four factors successfully explained 82.459% of the overall variance, confirming a clear and strong factor structure.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis: CFA was used to test competing models (one-factor, two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and four-dimensional). The four-dimensional model demonstrated the best fit to the data (χ²/df = 3.769, RMSEA = 0.055, CFI = 0.972, GFI = 0.961, AGFI = 0.940, TLI = 0.963). Furthermore, a second-order model was successfully established to account for the hierarchical relationship among the latent variables, confirming that CIBI functions as a higher-order construct. The second-order model also provided a strong fit (χ²/df = 3.727, RMSEA = 0.055, CFI = 0.971, GFI = 0.960, AGFI = 0.941, TLI = 0.963), supporting the use of the scale as a unified measure of CIBI.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: Items are rated using a 7-point Likert scale.

Language Available: Chinese

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older)

Population Details: Respondents: Tourists, Location: China

Test Methodology: Test Validity; Construct Validity; Convergent Validity; Discriminant Validity; Predictive Validity; Test Reliability; Internal Consistency; Factor Analysis; Confirmatory Factor Analysis; Exploratory Factor Analysis; Principal Component Analysis.

Keywords

CIBI Scale, Tourism Research, Cultural Innovation Measurement, Heritage Management, Psychometric Properties, Likert Scale, Scale Development, Heritage Tourism Destinations.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier:

• Wang, Mei-Yu: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0697-110X

Affiliation Email addresses:

• Wang, Mei-Yu: Huaqiao University, College of Tourism ([email protected])
• Li, Yong-Quan: Huaqiao University, College of Tourism Research Center of Tourism and Service Management ([email protected])
• Ruan, Wen-Qi: Huaqiao University, College of Tourism ([email protected])
• Zhang, Shu-Ning: Huaqiao University, College of Tourism ([email protected])
• Li, Rui: Huaqiao University, College of Tourism ([email protected])

Correspondence Address:

Ruan, Wen-Qi: Huaqiao University, College of Tourism, Fujian, Quanzhou, China, 362021, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: May use for Research/Teaching

Commercial: No

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

Reference’s

Wang, M.-Y., Li, Y.-Q., Ruan, W.-Q., Zhang, S.-N., & Li, R. (2023). Cultural inheritance-based innovation at heritage tourism destinations: Conceptualization, structural dimensions and scale development. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 55, 118–130. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2023.03.009

Items of the Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The Cultural Inheritance-Based Innovation (CIBI) Scale consists of 13 items.

Subscales:

• Cultural authentic production

• Cultural creative dissemination

• Cultural living display

• Cultural transforming creation

No data is Available regarding the specific wording of each of the 13 items.

Cultural authentic production

• This destination extracts local multicultural characteristics.

• This destination integrates local rich cultural meanings.

• This destination maintains strong cultural and living flavor.

• This destination retains the characteristics and quality of traditional materials.

Cultural creative dissemination

• This destination builds unique brands to enhance local cultural influences.

• This destination promotes local culture with pop culture interestingly.

• This destination uses new media to convey local values and lifestyles.

Cultural living display

• This destination immerses me by combining traditional arts and high-tech settings.

• This destination uses digital and multimedia technology to dynamically present heritage culture.

• This destination actively engages in cultural display interactions.

Cultural transforming creation

• This destination improves heritage tourism products and services to adapt to contemporary life.

• This destination reflects the local folklore to strengthen emotional connections with me.

• This destination adds modern aesthetics to expand traditional cultural values.