Residents' place attachment and word-of-mouth behaviours: A tale of two cities

Abstract

Factors that motivate residents to communicate with potential tourists have not received adequate attention from researchers. Based on the environmental psychology and tourism literature, this study focuses on local residents' positive word-of-mouth behaviour about their destination region through two communication channels. Dimensions of place attachment are proposed as determinants of two types (one-to-many and many-to-many) of online word-of-mouth behaviours. A theoretical structural model is tested based on an empirical study in Shanghai, China and Sydney, Australia. The research has implications for destination marketing managers in understanding how to involve local residents in the promotion of their tourism destinations.