Shang Ziye, Luo Jian Ming
Faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau, Macao, Macau SAR, China.
Front Psychol. 2021 Nov 26;12:759207. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.759207. eCollection 2021.
Place attachment has been identified as effective marketing strength to enhance destination competitiveness. However, little research explored the formation mechanism of the place attachment of potential tourists and the role of celebrity endorsers. This study aims to identify the influence mechanism of the credibility of endorsers on place attachment. Various theories from different research fields were introduced to explore the mediating effect of destination attitude, para-social relationships, and destination source credibility between endorser credibility and the place attachment of potential tourists. The famous destination endorser in China, Tenzin, was chosen as the case. A quantitative method was adopted. The research model was examined by a survey sampling size of 367 respondents. The covariance-based structural equation model analysis revealed that the credibility of the endorser exerts a positive influence on the destination attitude of potential tourists, para-social relationship with the endorser, and destination source credibility. These three constructs have a positive effect on their place attachment. The results showed that the credibility of the endorser has a significant indirect influence on place attachment. This study extends the current literature of forming the place attachment of potential tourists from the perspective of the personal characteristics of the destination endorser. The findings shed light on how the credibility of the endorser could form place attachment through enhancing the destination attitude, credibility, and para-social relationships of potential tourists. This study provides several practical implications for destination marketing.
地方依恋已被确认为提升目的地竞争力的有效营销力量。然而，很少有研究探讨潜在游客地方依恋的形成机制以及名人代言人的作用。本研究旨在确定代言人可信度对地方依恋的影响机制。引入了不同研究领域的各种理论，以探讨目的地态度、准社会关系和目的地来源可信度在代言人可信度与潜在游客的地方依恋之间的中介作用。选取了中国著名的目的地代言人丹增作为案例。采用了定量方法。通过对367名受访者的调查样本对研究模型进行了检验。基于协方差的结构方程模型分析表明，代言人的可信度对潜在游客的目的地态度、与代言人的准社会关系以及目的地来源可信度有积极影响。这三个构念对他们的地方依恋有积极作用。结果表明，代言人的可信度对地方依恋有显著的间接影响。本研究从目的地代言人的个人特征角度扩展了当前关于潜在游客形成地方依恋的文献。研究结果揭示了代言人的可信度如何通过增强潜在游客的目的地态度、可信度和准社会关系来形成地方依恋。本研究为目的地营销提供了若干实践启示。
