In rural destinations, community festivals and events displaying agricultural andlivestock exhibits with a combination of entertainment activities are one of the heritageattractions that draw large numbers of visitors. They have not only provided aneconomic stimulus along with social and cultural benefits to these small communities,but also played a role in increasing the tourism appeal to nonlocal visitors. Consideringthe significance of a rural community festival to its hosting local residents and out-of-townvisitors, attracting and keeping a flow of visitors has been of great importance forboth the festival organizers and destination marketing organizations. In this respect,identification with and retention of loyal visitors who are psychologically committed tothe festival are a practical means for ensuring a consistent number of visitors to thatfestival and its hosting community.The present study examined how festival visitors' develop loyalty to festivals andhosting communities through the affective and psychological processes within the Mehrabian-Russell (M-R) model. Specifically, this study explored how emotionsengendered through tourism product consumption influence visitors' psychologicalattachment, evaluations of their festival and place experiences, and loyalty in a festivalcontext. The study further examined if festival visitors' positive experiences could havean influence on their preference of festival communities.Through an onsite and follow-up mixed-mode survey, data were collected duringSpring/Summer 2008 from visitors to three community festivals in Texas. Data analysiswas performed using structural question modeling (SEM). The study findings providedempirical evidence in support of the M-R model within the festival contexts. The studyresults revealed that festival atmospherics had a positive indirect effect on festivalloyalty via positive emotions, festival commitment, and festival satisfaction, which inturn positively influenced place loyalty. Additionally, the findings in this study providedempirical support for the applicability of product consumption emotions to visitors'emotions generated from tourism product consumption situation specific to the festivalcontexts.The findings of the study have theoretical and practical implications. For theory,these findings offer support for the M-R model within festival context. The model'sfocus on emotional response to environmental stimuli is an important addition toestablished cognitive-based models of loyalty development processes. For practice, thestudy offers some guidance for festival organizers and destination marketing managersfor developing effective marketing strategies that focus on the festival atmospherics thatultimately retain and attract new festival goers.
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