Reflection at Night: Exploring University Students' Cognitions Regarding Nighttime Destination Authenticity
Zhilun Alan Huang1, Songxue Zhang2, Chunfeng Li3
1Faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau, Macau 999078, China.
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 28, 2026
Summary
University students
Area of Science:
- Tourism and Hospitality Management
- Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Nighttime destinations offer unique stimuli for university students.
- Authenticity perceptions in these settings are underexplored.
- Grounded in psychological empowerment theory and cognition-affect-conation framework.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate university students' perceptions of authenticity (objective, intrapersonal, interpersonal) in nighttime destinations.
- Examine the link between authenticity, destination meaning, and critical reflection.
- Analyze the moderating role of nocturnal escapism.
Main Methods:
- Survey data from 764 university students at a nighttime destination.
- Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
- Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA).
Main Results:
- Intrapersonal authenticity strongly correlates with destination meaning and critical reflection.
- fsQCA identified four distinct configurations for high critical reflection.
- Highlights the complexity of factors influencing critical reflection.
Conclusions:
- Intrapersonal authenticity is key for university students' nighttime destination experiences.
- Specific configurations of factors contribute to critical reflection.
- Offers insights for enhancing nighttime destination authenticity and student engagement.
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