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REVIEW 4 major objections 5 minor 25 references

The Influence of Tourist Experience on Revisit Decisions with the Mediation of Tourist Satisfaction

T0 review · 4 major / 5 minor · reviewed 2026-08-07 · deepseek-v4-flash

Pith's one-line read At Nusliko Park, the data show that tourist experience raises revisit intentions both directly and through tourist satisfaction, with satisfaction carrying a significant share of the effect.

desk verdict Routine case study of well-established relationships; sampling and interpretation flaws keep it from supporting the site-specific claims. read the letter →

arxiv 2506.06552 v1 pith:BU5WBMV7 submitted 2025-06-06 econ.GN q-fin.EC

classification econ.GNq-fin.EC
keywords touristexperiencesatisfactionrevisitdecisionecotourismNuslikoParkpartialleastsquaresstructuralequationmodelingmediationanalysisNorthMalukutourism
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal

The pith

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The reading

The paper sets out to show why tourists decide to revisit the Nusliko Park ecotourism area in North Maluku. It argues that a tourist's experience—sense, feel, act, and think—directly raises the chance of a return visit, and that satisfaction carries part of that effect. Using survey data from 114 visitors and a partial-least-squares structural model, the authors report positive, statistically significant paths from experience to revisit decisions, experience to satisfaction, and satisfaction to revisit, with an indirect effect through satisfaction of 0.366. If right, the result gives park managers a concrete lever: improving the quality of the experience pays off twice, once directly and once by raising satisfaction.

What carries the argument

The machinery is a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM), a regression-style technique for testing relationships among survey constructs, run in SmartPLS 4.0. The core device is the four-dimension experience construct inherited from Pine and Gilmore—entertainment, education, escapism, and aesthetics, mapped here as sense, feel, act, and think—measured with indicators from Oh et al. (2007) and Ali et al. (2016) and feeding two outcomes: tourist satisfaction and revisit decision. The load-bearing calculation is the indirect effect: multiplying the experience-to-satisfaction path (0.797) by the satisfaction-to-revisit path (0.459) gives the mediation effect (0.366), whose statistical significance is then tested. Reliability and validity checks (outer loadings above 0.7 after deleting indicator X.11, average variance extracted above 0.5, composite reliability above 0.7) are used to argue that the constructs are clean enough for the paths to be interpretable.

What would settle it

A representative random sample of Nusliko Park visitors collected after the park reopened, with first-time visitors included and the stated eligibility criteria enforced, would settle the claim: if the direct experience-to-revisit path and the satisfaction-mediated indirect path lose significance in that sample, the mediation story is an artifact of the original sampling.

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Extended reading notes

Core claim

On the paper's own terms, the central discovery is that the link from tourist experience to the decision to revisit is partly direct and partly mediated by tourist satisfaction. In the sample of 114 Nusliko Park visitors, experience predicts satisfaction strongly (path coefficient 0.797), satisfaction predicts revisit decisions (0.459), and experience also has a direct path to revisit (0.485); the indirect path through satisfaction is 0.366, and all four hypothesized relationships are significant at $p<0.05$. The model explains 80 percent of the variance in revisit decisions. The authors read these results as confirming that satisfaction is a genuine mediator and that experience-based marketing—not just branding—should drive destination management.

Load-bearing premise

The load-bearing premise is that the 114 purposively sampled respondents—recruited while the park was closed for repairs—represent Nusliko Park visitors well enough that the estimated paths and mediation effect generalize.

Editorial extensions

If this is right

  • Park managers should invest in the experiential dimensions—access, comfort, activities, and perceived value—because the data show these directly raise revisit intention.
  • Satisfaction is not a side effect but a transmission channel: experience affects return visits partly through satisfaction, so monitoring satisfaction scores gives managers an early warning for loyalty.
  • Marketing strategy at Nusliko Park should emphasize repeat-visit quality over initial branding, since the paper finds revisit decisions track past experience more than attraction.
  • The model's 80 percent explained variance in revisit decisions implies that, within this sample, the included experience and satisfaction measures capture most of what drives returns.
  • The results support prioritizing infrastructure, safety, and staff friendliness as concrete levers in the destination's development plan.

Reading between the lines

Editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • Because the data are cross-sectional, the mediation claim is statistical, not causal; a visitor who already intends to return may report higher satisfaction, reversing the arrows. A longitudinal or experimental design would be needed to confirm the ordering.
  • The indirect effect (0.366) is smaller than the direct effect (0.485), so the paper actually supports partial, not full, mediation; a useful testable extension is whether other mediators, such as memory or place attachment, absorb more of the experience-to-revisit link.
  • The paper's stated respondent criteria differ between the abstract (at least two visits, North Maluku domicile) and the methods (completed tour, willing to respond); re-running the model with a clearly defined, representative post-reopening sample would show whether the mediation claim holds outside this convenience sample.
  • Sampling while the park was closed for repairs may select visitors with especially strong prior impressions; re-administering the questionnaire to first-time visitors after reopening would reveal how much of the reported path coefficients depends on that sampling window.
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Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, and a circularity audit.

Referee Report

4 major / 5 minor

Summary. This paper reports a PLS-SEM study of 114 questionnaires from visitors to the Nusliko Park Ecotourism Area in North Maluku, Indonesia. The authors test four hypotheses: that tourist experience positively affects revisit decisions (H1), that tourist experience positively affects tourist satisfaction (H2), that tourist satisfaction positively affects revisit decisions (H3), and that tourist satisfaction mediates the experience-to-revisit relationship (H4). They report path coefficients of 0.485 (experience to revisit), 0.797 (experience to satisfaction), and 0.459 (satisfaction to revisit), with an indirect effect of 0.366, all significant at p < 0.05. The abstract and conclusion assert that tourist experience and satisfaction positively influence revisit decisions and that satisfaction mediates the relationship. The paper also provides measurement-model results, including outer loadings, reliability, and R-squared values.

Significance. If the empirical claims were credible, the paper would offer a modest replication of well-established relationships between tourist experience, satisfaction, and revisit intentions in a new ecotourism context, along with practical marketing recommendations. However, the scientific contribution is severely constrained by the study design: the data come from a non-probability purposive sample collected while the park was closed for repairs, the eligibility criteria differ between the abstract and the Methods section, and the sample size of 114 falls below the 5-per-indicator threshold the authors themselves invoke. The paper has some transparency strengths, such as reporting outer loadings and reliability in full tables, and the indirect effect is arithmetically consistent with the direct path coefficients (0.797 × 0.459 = 0.366). These strengths do not compensate for the lack of a defensible sampling frame and the post hoc deletion of an indicator without sensitivity analysis.

major comments (4)
  1. [Abstract vs. Section III (Methods)] The sampling criteria are inconsistent: the abstract states that respondents must have visited Nusliko Park at least twice and be domiciled in North Maluku, while the Methods section only requires that respondents 'had completed the tour and were willing to complete the questionnaire.' Because data were collected while the park was closed for repairs, it is unclear how any on-site sampling took place and which criteria were actually applied. This inconsistency leaves the sampling frame undefined, so the reported path coefficients cannot be generalized from this convenience sample to Nusliko Park visitors as claimed.
  2. [Section III, sample size] The sample-size justification is arithmetically incorrect. The manuscript states that 27 indicators require 5–10 times as many responses, which it gives as 100–200 respondents, but 5×27 = 135 and 10×27 = 270. With n = 114, the sample is below the lower bound of the authors' own 5-per-indicator rule. This undermines the stability of the PLS-SEM estimates and the claimed conformance with Hair et al. (2010).
  3. [Table 1 and Section IV] Indicator X.11 has an outer loading of -0.026 and is deleted post hoc after initial validity testing. The manuscript provides no sensitivity analysis showing whether the path coefficients, indirect effect, or substantive conclusions change if X.11 is retained or if the model is estimated with the original 27 indicators. Because the deletion is driven by the data, the measurement model loses its confirmatory status and the reported results may be overfitted.
  4. [Tables 4 and 5] No bootstrap confidence intervals are reported for any path coefficient or for the indirect effect, even though bootstrapped confidence intervals are standard practice in PLS-SEM and are essential for assessing precision. Given the small non-probability sample and the post hoc model modification, point estimates with p-values alone are insufficient to support the mediation claim.
minor comments (5)
  1. [Section II.C] There is an incomplete sentence: 'According to customer satisfaction theory, which states that positive experiences during a tourist .' This should be completed and the surrounding text smoothed.
  2. [Table 2] Decimal commas are used in the reported reliability and AVE values (e.g., 0,965) while decimal points are used elsewhere; please standardize to decimal points throughout.
  3. [Table 3 and Section IV] The text states that the R-squared of 0.80 for the revisit decision is explained 'by the tourist experience variable,' but the structural model includes both tourist experience and tourist satisfaction as predictors; the attribution should be stated as the combined explanatory power of the model.
  4. [Section III] The Methods section does not mention ethical approval, informed consent, or data-collection procedures (e.g., online or paper questionnaire, recruitment channel). Reporting these details would help readers assess the sampling process.
  5. [Section IV] The manuscript reports p-values but no effect sizes beyond path coefficients; reporting confidence intervals and, where possible, standardized effect sizes would aid interpretation.

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged · score 0.0 of 10

No significant circularity: the model paths are estimated from data, and the mediation effect is a tested output, not a built-in assumption.

full rationale

The paper's derivation chain is empirical rather than definitional. Hypotheses H1-H4 are tested with SmartPLS using 114 questionnaires, and the reported path coefficients (0.485, 0.797, 0.459) and the indirect effect (0.366) are model outputs, not inputs that are relabeled as findings. The indirect effect is the product of the estimated Experience->Satisfaction and Satisfaction->Revisit paths, and its significance is bootstrapped; because the direct Experience->Revisit path is reported separately, the mediation claim could have failed empirically. The questionnaire items adopted from Oh et al. (2007) and Ali et al. (2016) are a standard scale use and do not define revisit decisions in terms of tourist experience or force the estimated relationships. There is no self-citation chain, no imported uniqueness theorem, and no fitted parameter is presented as an out-of-sample prediction. The paper's own limitations regarding non-probability purposive sampling while the park was closed are external-validity concerns, not circularity in the statistical inference.

Assumptions & free parameters 5 free parameters · 4 assumptions · 0 invented entities

The central claims rest on fitted path coefficients, factor loadings, and several domain assumptions about sample representativeness and measurement validity. No new theoretical entities are introduced. The rationale for each assumption is given in the ledger entries.

free parameters (5)
  • Path coefficient: Tourist Experience -> Decision to Revisit = 0.485
    Fitted to the 114 responses; H1 is accepted based on this coefficient and its p-value.
  • Path coefficient: Tourist Experience -> Tourist Satisfaction = 0.797
    Fitted to the same data; H2 and the first leg of the mediation depend on it.
  • Path coefficient: Tourist Satisfaction -> Decision to Revisit = 0.459
    Fitted to the same data; H3 and the second leg of the mediation depend on it.
  • Indirect effect: Tourist Experience -> Tourist Satisfaction -> Decision to Revisit = 0.366
    Computed from the PLS-SEM model; used to claim mediation in H4.
  • Outer loadings for 26 retained indicators = 0.798 to 0.955
    Each loading is estimated in the measurement model and used to compute AVE and reliability; X.11 with loading -0.026 was deleted before retesting.
assumptions (4)
  • domain assumption The 114 purposively sampled respondents represent the visitor population of Nusliko Park.
    The abstract requires at least two visits and North Maluku domicile, while the Methods only says completed tour and willing; the park was closed for repairs, so responses may be retrospective and non-representative.
  • domain assumption Self-reported Likert responses measure the three latent constructs without systematic common-method bias.
    All constructs come from the same questionnaire; no procedural or statistical common-method-bias control is reported.
  • ad hoc to paper Deleting indicator X.11 after seeing its outer loading is a valid model modification.
    The retest is reported only after deletion; the paper does not show whether the path estimates are robust to keeping X.11.
  • domain assumption The linear PLS path model with no control variables captures the causal structure.
    No tests for omitted variables, nonlinearity, or multicollinearity are reported; the model assumes no confounders.

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Cite this review

Pith. "Pith review of The Influence of Tourist Experience on Revisit Decisions with the Mediation of Tourist Satisfaction." pith.science (2026). https://pith.science/paper/BU5WBMV7

@misc{pith2026250606552,
  author       = {Pith},
  title        = {Pith review of: The Influence of Tourist Experience on Revisit Decisions with the Mediation of Tourist Satisfaction},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://pith.science/paper/BU5WBMV7}},
  note         = {Machine review of arXiv:2506.06552}
}
read the original abstract

Nusliko Park Ecotourism Area is a combination of natural and artificial tourism with the background of Lake Nusliko, which can be developed as a leading tourist attraction. Marketing strategies can be formulated by analyzing the factors influencing the decision to revisit. The decision to revisit is a key indicator that shows the success of a tourism marketing strategy. This study aimed to test and analyze the relationship between tourist experience and tourist satisfaction with the decision to revisit the Nusliko Park Ecotourism area. This type of research is descriptive research. The population in this study was visitors to the Nusliko Park Ecotourism area. The sample criteria were visitors who had visited the Nusliko Park Ecotourism area at least twice and were domiciled in North Maluku. Data were collected through questionnaires, and 114 questionnaires were returned. The research method used non-probability sampling with purposive sampling techniques. These two techniques were used to make it easier for the author to obtain samples because the Nusliko Park Ecotourism area was closed when the research was conducted. After all, it was under repair. Data were processed and analyzed using SEM and through SmartPLS 4.0 software. The study results indicate that the tourist experience and satisfaction positively influence the decision to revisit. Through this study, the satisfaction variable was also found to mediate the relationship between the tourist experience and the decision to revisit

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Reviewed August 7, 2026 · model on record in the stance chip above.