Hajj Tourism Gifts: How Price Fairness, Quality, Availability, and Creativity Influence Pilgrim Satisfaction and Emotional Engagement

This study examines how price fairness, perceived product quality, product availability, and perceived creativity shape pilgrims' satisfaction with Al-Hajj gifts and, in turn, their emotional engagement, drawing on an Expectation-Confirmation Theory (ECT)-informed perspective. We analyzed 247 valid surveys from Al-Hajj pilgrims in the 1446 AH/2025 season using Smart PLS-SEM. We found that all four marketplace cues (i.e., price fairness, perceived product quality, product availability, and perceived creativity) are positively related to satisfaction; satisfaction, in turn, fosters emotional engagement with gifts. Creativity also exhibits a direct link to engagement, indicating an affective route in addition to the ECT confirmation-satisfaction pathway. Mediation tests show that satisfaction transmits the effects of price fairness, quality, and availability to engagement, while creativity's effect is partially mediated. Managers should coordinate transparent pricing, credible quality cues, assured availability, and faith-aligned creative design to meet expectations and cultivate pilgrims' emotional bonds with gifts and place.