Along with the increasing popularity of the animation,comic and games(ACG)culture all over the world,the anime pilgrimage,which is a form of tourism induced by the anime culture,has attracted attention from both academia and practice.Through reenactment of photo shootings,imitating to perform and experience virtually,anime pilgrimage has become a new form of tourism which"breaks the dimensional wall".Looking for an authenticity experience that blends reality and fantasy is one of the key motivations of tourists to engage in anime pilgrimage.However,current literature has paid little attention to the conceptualization of authenticity experience in anime pilgrimage and how such experience shape tourists'overal tourism experience.Utilizing the grounded theory approach,this research conceptualizes and identifies the key dimensions of tourists'authenticity experience in anime pilgrimage.Data was collected through online reviews and semi-structured interviews.The Cohen's authentication theory was employed to guide the data analysis process and explain the mechanisms through which tourists construct the authenticity experience.The results show that the authenticity experience of anime pilgrimage tourism is composed of four dimensions including landscape authenticity,utopia authenticity,tribal authenticity and self-authenticity.The landscape authenticity refers to the experience with local scenes and stories of the ACG works,as well as the real ACG culture and local cultural customs.The utopia authenticity refers to the tourists'anti-structural experience of"break the dimensional wall"and"astral projection"into ACG world,feeling isolated from their daily lives and being immersed in the ACG role.The tribal authenticity refers to the experience of emotional resonance among tourists and between tourists and local residents,through which tourists can open their hearts and feel the sincerity and identity of each other.The self-authenticity refers to the experience in which tourists can freely express themselves,indulge in consumption,and release their inner feelings,so that they can transcend their identifies in daily lives through self-achievement and self-actualization.In addition,we further reveal that tourists construct authenticity experience in anime pilgrimage tourism through the process of authentication.In the beginning,tourists identify the similarities between the landscape elements and the content in the ACG works based on the factual authentication,and experience the authenticity of the landscape through photographing and restoring.Then,tourists enter the state of narrative transportation through embodied imitation,plot performance and cosplay,triggering imaginary authentication to experience the utopia authenticity.Tourists can also experience the emotional resonance and value identification among tribal members through external rituals,exchanges and sharing,or souvenirs left by fans.Finally,through the sense of achievement induced by various activities,tourists gain a sense of meaning towards self-actualization and experience self-authenticity.This research enriches the understanding of authenticity experience in tourism research.We also contribute to the development of Cohen's authentication theory through examing how the"cold"and"hot"authentication process construct tourists'authenticity experience in anime pilgrimage tourism.From the practical perspective,this study has valuable implications for the management of virtual contents tourism and destination marketing based on anime pilgrimage.
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