Moderating effect of optimum stimulation level on the relationship between satisfaction and revisit intention: the case of Turkish cultural tourists Savas  Evren, Emine S  ims ek Evren and A. Celil Çakıcı Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine the optimum stimulation levels (OSLs) of cultural tourists within the context of their novelty seeking tendencies and to determine whether their OSLs have a moderating effect on the relationship between their satisfaction and revisit intentions. Design/methodology/approach – To collect data, an online survey was conducted for Turkish cultural tourists (n = 563) in May 2018, and the data were analysed with PROCESS by Hayes. Findings – The study’s findings demonstrated that Turkish cultural tourists were high-level novelty seekers and that novelty seeking has a moderating effect on the relationship between their satisfaction and short-term revisit intentions. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature by revealing the moderator effect of novelty seeking tendency on the relationship between satisfaction and revisit intention within the scope of cultural tourism, which has not been examined before. Keywords Optimum stimulation level, Novelty seeking, Cultural tourism, Satisfaction, Revisit intention Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Revisits to the same destination, as one of the main indicators of customer loyalty, are quite important to ensure economic sustainability of tourism destinations in an increasingly tough competitive environment. As the number of repeat visitors increases, the profitability of the destination increases and the marketing costs decrease. The main factors that affect the tendency of individuals to revisit include satisfaction, perceived quality, past holiday experience and cultural differences. For example, in several studies, it was reported that satisfaction level was the main factor that affected/shaped the intention of the tourists to revisit the same destination (Chiu et al., 2016; Kozak, 2001; Yoon and Uysal, 2005; Yu ¨ ksel, 2001). Another important variable with an effect on repurchase behaviour is the optimum stimulation level (OSL; Jang and Feng, 2007). OSL indicates the magnitude of individuals’ tendencies to seek novelty, change, diversity and sensation. The magnitude of OSL could provide an idea about the revisit intention of the individual. Certain studies demonstrated that the repurchase behaviour of those with high OSL would exhibit low repurchase behaviour because of their high tendency to seek diversity (Assaker and Hallak, 2013, pp. 600–601; Bigne ´ et al., 2009; Niininen et al., 2004, p. 443); others reported that a high OSL has a positive effect on repurchase behaviour, especially in both medium- and long-term (Jang and Feng, 2007). Savas  Evren is based at Department of Tourism Management, Faculty of Tourism, Gumushane University, Gu ¨mu ¨s ¸hane, Turkey. Emine S  ims ek Evren is based at Social Sciences Institute, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey. A. Celil C ¸ akıcı is based at Department of Tourism Management, Faculty of Tourism, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey. Received 22 March 2019 Revised 20 September 2019 4 February 2020 Accepted 6 April 2020 DOI 10.1108/IJCTHR-03-2019-0052 © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 j INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH j