Relationship between Viewing Motivation, Presence, Viewing Satisfaction, and Attitude toward Tourism Destinations Based on TV Travel Reality Variety Programs

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between viewing motivation for reality programs and the viewing experience (presence) during watching, viewing satisfaction after watching, and attitudes toward presented tourism destinations. While this study notes that the empirical verification of travel reality variety programs is insufficient, various discussions are presented with regard to the grip of reality variety program fever in Korea. Notably, viewers are interested in the emotional experience related to characters and tourism destinations in reality variety programs. Therefore, we asked the following questions: (1) What kind of motivation encourages viewers to watch reality variety programs? (2) How does motivation for viewing a reality variety program affect viewing satisfaction through a certain approach (presence)? (3) How does viewing satisfaction affect one’s attitude toward a program’s tourism destinations? To answer these questions, we conducted a survey of 358 viewers of travel reality variety programs. The results of this study are as follows: (1) viewing motivation for travel reality variety programs consists of five factors: vicarious gratification, entertainment, information-seeking, habitual time-spending, and socializing; (2) it was confirmed that the effect of these five factors on satisfaction was mediated by presence (viewing experience); and (3) viewing satisfaction through presence affected the subsequent attitude toward presented tourism destinations.