Tourists’ Destination Loyalty through Emotional Solidarity with Residents: An Integrative Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract

Abstract:This study proposes a theoretical model integrating two lines of tourism research: emotional solidarity and destination loyalty. In order to test the proposed model, a survey of visitors to Cape Verde islands was undertaken. Structural equation modeling and moderated mediation analysis were implemented to assess the relationships involving visitors' emotional solidarity with residents, satisfaction and destination loyalty. The three dimensions of emotional solidarity were considered in the study: feeling welcomed, sympathetic understanding and emotional closeness.Results indicate that visitors' feeling welcomed and sympathetic understanding directly influence loyalty. In particular, the relationships involving visitors' feeling welcomed by residents, emotional closeness with residents and sympathetic understanding with residents and loyalty were all mediated by satisfaction. Additionally, gender was found to moderate the conditional indirect effects of emotional closeness and feeling welcomed on loyalty (via satisfaction). Such relationships were stronger among male visitors. Implications as well as future research opportunities are offered.

Exploring the Intersections of Emotional Solidarity and Ethic of Care: An Analysis of Their Synergistic Contributions to Sustainable Community Tourism Development

“…Such positive statements, which can be associated with resident satisfaction, have implications for tourism managers and planners. This study supports the research by Ribeiro et al [21] and Woosnam [1] that residents and tourists' satisfaction levels contribute positively to the development of a destination; the former garners support for tourism development and the latter results in word-of-mouth publicity and repeat visits. In a study from Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jamal and Camargo [9] revealed how residents of The Zona Maya have been deprived of ecocultural equity and ecocultural justice from government agencies, tourism boards, and investors, and how they have been subjected to ecocultural discrimination and ecocultural racism.…”

“…In return, as stated by some stakeholders, tourists were also found committed to the preservation of BCS way of living and culture through patronage, such as visiting festivals annually, seeking authentic cuisine in BCS restaurants, and wanting to return/relocate to BCS due to its good image and warm hospitality of its people/stakeholders. Other studies also emphasized that tourists' degree of connection and involvement with the destination [21] and emotional experience with the destination encourage future visitation [49]. Thus, the study findings support the earlier statements by Ribeiro et al [21] and Woosnam, Dudensing, and Walker [50] that direct positive relationship and emotional solidarity of tourists with residents contribute to destination loyalty and satisfaction.…”

“…Further, by paying due respect to the culture, tradition, and heritage of a visiting destination while being guided by a spirit of fairness, concern for others, respect for diversity, filled with a sense of justice, fairness, and equity [4,5,34] can champion an ethic of care in tourism interactions. Ribeiro et al [21] also asserted that socio-cultural interactions between tourists and residents enhance tourists' experiences and foster support for local culture, enhance solidarity and bonding, increase tourist satisfaction, all the while, encouraging revisitation through positive word-of mouth. The elements of EC and ES are found to be greatly operationalized in BCS, which indicates a positive direction for its future tourism development in a sustainable manner.…”

“…For example, tourists expressed a significantly higher degree of solidarity with residents than residents did with tourists. In a recent study of Cape Verde Islands (off the western coast of Africa), Ribeiro, Woosnam, Pinto, and Silva [21] proposed a theoretical model integrating two lines of tourism research accessing the relationships between tourists' emotional solidarity with residents and destination loyalty and satisfaction. The results suggested that tourists' feeling welcomed by residents and sympathetic understanding with residents directly influenced destination loyalty.…”

“…The results suggested that tourists' feeling welcomed by residents and sympathetic understanding with residents directly influenced destination loyalty. Further, the three dimensions of emotional solidarity were all mediated by satisfaction [21]. Woosnam and colleagues have offered a novel theoretical framework for examining intimate relationships between the residents and tourists, which as Woosnam [1] suggested, should be considered in both developed and developing tourist destinations.…”