Communication factors contributing to mindfulness: A study of Melaka World Heritage Site visitors

Abstract

We investigate the effects of three communication factors (i.e. variety, interactivity, and personal connection) as used in three different types of media (i.e. exhibits, guided tours, and printed materials) on the state of mindfulness of visitors at the Malacca World Heritage Site. Mindfulness refers to a state of mind in which a person actively processes available information. For a relatively new heritage site, such as Malacca, improving a visitors' state of mindfulness is important because mindful visitors have been shown to have superior understanding and learning, thus benefiting the heritage site's management authorities by cultivating responsible and sustainable tourism behaviours. The survey method was employed to measure the state of mindfulness of 200 respondents visiting the Malacca World Heritage Site. The survey results indicate that each communication media has one key communication factor that significantly induces a state of mindfulness in the visitor. For exhibits, variety was found to be the key communication factor while for guided tours and printed material, the key communication factor was interactivity. In response to these findings, we outline a number of specific directions for heritage site management and authorities to identify the most effective communication factors in commonly used communication media.