Media Exposure, Perception, Attitude, and Traveling Behavior of Foreign Tourists Visiting Wat Rong Khun Temple

Abstract

Abstract

                    The research study examines media exposure, perception, attitude, and traveling behaviour of foreign tourists visiting Wat Rong Khun. The objectives are: 1) to study the media exposure, perception, attitude, and behavior of foreign tourists towards Wat Rong Khun, and 2) to investigate the relationship between media exposure and perception, media reception and attitude, perception and attitude, attitude and tourist behavior, and perception and tourism trends at Wat Rong Khun among foreign tourists. The study population consists of 400 foreign tourists traveling to Wat Rong Khun, Chiang Rai. Data collection tools include questionnaires, and statistical analysis methods include frequency distribution, percentages, means, standard deviations, and hypothesis testing using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

               The research findings reveal that the majority of the sample group are females from Asian countries, aged between 21-30 years, with undergraduate education, employed in general or freelance occupations, with an average income between US$ 1,001-2,000. Most of them visited Wat Rong Khun for the first time, accompanied by 4-5 family members, traveling by public transport, with expenses of less than 500 Baht per person. They receive information about Wat Rong Khun from internet media, particularly YouTube. Foreign tourists perceive Wat Rong Khun highly (mean = 4.04), with a high attitude towards visiting (mean = 3.85). The behavior trend of visiting Wat Rong Khun is moderate. Hypothesis testing results indicate a significant relationship between media reception and perception of Wat Rong Khun, and between attitude and tourist behavior at Wat Rong Khun among foreign tourists. Recommendations include developing a tourism guidebook for Wat Rong Khun, possibly in both printed and multimedia formats, to provide information to tourists in both Thai and foreign languages.