The Effects of Perceived Values (Traditional and Religious) and Religious Beliefs on the Satisfaction and Behavioral Tendencies of Pilgrims of Arba‘īn Husseini

Religious tourism is one of the prosperous forms of tourism, rooted in nations’ beliefs and opinions. What distinguishes religious tourism from other types of tourism are the tourists’ beliefs and perceived value that affect their satisfaction and behavioral tendencies. Here, Arba‘īn Husseini Pilgrimage is one of the unique types of religious tourism that holds specific value features. The purpose of this research is to examine the impacts of perceived values on tourists’ satisfaction and behavioral tendencies according to the moderating role of beliefs regarding the pilgrims of Arba‘īn Husseini. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypotheses. The results of this research show that management quality, emotional value, physical features, and religious practices have positive and meaningful effects on tourists’ satisfaction. However, price value and social value have no meaningful effects on the Arba‘īn pilgrims’ satisfaction. In addition, religious beliefs have no moderating role in the effects of physical features on pilgrims’ satisfaction; but these beliefs increase the effects of religious activities on pilgrims’ satisfaction and play a moderating role. Moreover, pilgrims’ satisfaction displays meaningful and positive effects on their next behavioral tendencies. Finally, the comparison of the results of this research on Arba‘īn Husseini with similar research on tourism in general, and religious tourism in Hajj in particular, reveals differences in perceived values of this journey with those of other journeys.