Sustainable Tourism Cities: Linking Idol Attachment to Sense of Place

Abstract

With the development of the “Hallyu” (Korean Wave) and people’s deep understanding of South Korea, the phenomenon of “Hallyu” idols driving tourism has become very common. Tourists, especially fans are no longer satisfied with the traditional tourist attractions with special symbolic meanings when visiting South Korea, but instead focus on common places associated with idols. For example, restaurants, cafes, bookstores, parks and convenience stores that have appeared in an idol’s social network accounts. With the application of the theory of attachment and sense of place in the tourism field, this study will start from the celebrity attachment, to exploring the specific processes and mechanisms by which idols affect the behavioral intentions of the fans. The associations between visitors and idol-related places based on celebrity attachments has also become possible, and the fans/tourists’ opinions and attitudes toward idol-related places will also change due to this emotional attachment. Relevant data were collected in the form of online questionnaires, and 440 valid responses were finalized for data analysis. Through data analysis, all the hypotheses proposed in this paper are supported, and there are significant relationships and positive influences among the variables. Data analysis results show that idol attachment can positively influence the four cognitive dimensions of sense of place (place identity, place dependence, social bonding and atmosphere). The various dimensions of sense of place can promote the generation of place attachment.

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