Effect of guide playfulness on the authenticity perception and place attachment of tourists: A cross-level analysis of indigenous tourism of Tsou in Taiwan

Following dramaturgical theory, this study regarded tribal scenes as a dynamic theater. The study aims to clarify the relationship between tour guides' level (tour guide playfulness; GP) and tourists' level (authenticity perception; AP, and place attachment; PA) in the context of tribal scenes from the indigenous Tsou communities in Taiwan. Data were collected from the nine indigenous Tsou communities of Alishan, Chiayi, Taiwan. Ques-tionnaires were retrieved from 52 Tsou tour guides and 416 tourists in tribal tour groups, and responses were analyzed using HLM. The results revealed that (1) tour guides with higher GP enabled tourists to develop a greater AP and PA and (2) tourists who held a greater AP tended to have a greater PA, indicating that GP en-hances the tourist experience. First study to validate the impact of GP on tribal tourists' perceived experiential outcomes, filling a theoretical gap and offering practical insights for tribal tourism development.