Evidence on the Relationship between Place Attachment and Behavioral Intentions between 2010 and 2021: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Place attachment is a key concept in understanding affective person–place relationships, and it provides an appropriate approach for the study of human behavior. This systematic literature review based on the PRISMA guidelines focuses on the relationships between place attachment and behavioral intentions. Due to the high number of studies that used place attachment as an independent or mediating variable, we categorized the studies into different research areas, which include business and management, risk and crisis, urban planning, environmental psychology, leisure, and hospitality and tourism. The results of the qualitative analysis revealed that most of the studies provided empirical evidence of a significant relationship between place attachment and willingness to pay, loyalty, risk coping behavior, land management practices, civic engagement, pro-environmental behaviors, and pro-tourism behaviors such as revisit and recommendation intentions. After we present our results and conclusion, we provide an outlook on the need for further research.

An Integrated Model of Destination Attractiveness and Tourists’ Environmentally Responsible Behavior: The Mediating Effect of Place Attachment

“…Place attachment is divided into four dimensions, namely, place identity, place dependence, place influence, and place social connection, so as to better explore its influence on TERB [ 23 ]. Previous research on place attachment has found that TERB in tourism contexts is significantly and positively influenced by place attachment, verifying that a deeper sense of place attachment will promote the implementation of TERB [ 24 ]. Destination attractiveness reflects the perception of visitors to the destination; it depends on whether the destination meets the needs of tourists and how tourist perceptions will influence the formation of place attachment [ 9 ].…”

“…Moreover, different approaches have been adopted to measure destination attractiveness, including multi-attribute and single-item measures. Tourism destinations have various attributes that are different from tourist activities, such as transportation conditions, history and culture, and accommodation facilities, which are the attributes that make destinations attractive to tourists, drawing them away from their permanent residences [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Some scholars have suggested that tourism destination attractiveness is highly correlated with the level of tourism attraction and the quantity and quality of tourism facilities and service [ 23 ].…”

Not All Places Are Equal: Using Instagram to Understand Cognitions and Affect towards Renewable Energy Infrastructures

“…Place attachment research suggests that, in mobile lives with multiple place attachments, the time that is spent at the different places that are important to us shape our attachments to those particular places [27]. Different places are important for diverse social, cultural, and emotional reasons, as well as for practical purposes [18]. Seen in this light, the hypothesis that particular uses of, and particular attachments to, place levels can inform the stakeholder perceptions of RETs seems plausible.…”

“…Place attachment has become an increasingly popular concept for understanding local responses to large-scale RETs (e.g., [18]). Van Veelen and Haggett [19] show that the place bond was an important motivator for the development of renewable energy projects, but that different degrees of place attachment also formed a key source of disagreement.…”

Toxic schools? Teacher perceptions of indoor air quality and negative place attachment

“…Place attachment is thought to be the main way to capture affective person-place relationships (Dang & Weiss, 2021). It is important for researchers to follow the evolution of this psychological concept and get new insight into its effects with and on behaviors.…”