scholarly journals Perceptions of tourism: a study of residents' attitudes towards tourism in the city of Girona

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sira Vidal Rua

Purpose Socio-cultural impacts of tourism have been widely researched within a social exchange theoretical framework, yet it seems that this theory could be neglecting those more emotional elements, which at the same time could be considered key to understand how tourism affects the society. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to look at the social exchange theory (SET) from a different perspective and focus on those less rational influencing factors that could be shaping residents’ attitudes towards tourism. Design/methodology/approach Based on six main constructs, a quantitative survey-based research is developed in the small city of Girona with the purpose to broaden the versality of the theory, with the support of in-depth exploratory interviews. Thus, an exhaustive study of the influences that attachment to communities, involvement in the tourism industry and personal benefits derived from tourism could have on residents’ perceptions is developed. Findings This paper suggests that those smaller tourism destinations might mirror themselves in those close big tourism destinations and thus residents’ opinions and attitudes seem to be influenced by the situations lived in these larger tourism destinations. Moreover, this paper stresses on the importance of interactions and relationships between tourists and residents to boost personal benefits from tourism. Finally, results show how those attached citizens tend to support tourism development, which could be explained by the proudness they feel when others value what for them is home. Originality/value This paper contributes to the current understanding of attitudes towards tourism within the SET framework, especially relating to covering those more emotional elements of social interactions. Moreover, there seems to be a gap in current research relating to small urban destinations that is aimed to be covered in this research.

Author(s):  
Robert Charles Capistrano ◽  
Adam Weaver

Purpose This paper aims to examine the social interactions between Filipino immigrant-hosts residing in New Zealand and their visiting relatives (VRs) or guests from the Philippines using social exchange theory to understand their experiences. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative, multi-sited study used in-depth interviews to examine social interactions between Filipino immigrant-host families in New Zealand and their respective visiting relatives from the Philippines. Findings Hosting VRs reflects aspects of social exchange theory, and the interdependence and familial obligations related to VR travel demonstrate mutual relations of care. Maintaining relations of care within the family is an ongoing process involving intergenerational relationships that bind together immigrant-host families and their VRs. Research limitations/implications The conceptualization of the social interactions between immigrants-hosts and VRs is not generalizable owing to the small sample size and lack of representativeness. However, despite a small sample, this qualitative inquiry uncovered a series of personal meanings and understandings attached to the maintenance of familial bonds. Practical implications As immigrant-receiving countries become more culturally diverse through migration, research about other cultures will assist tourism planners in understanding the values and actions of a more varied array of residents. A better understanding of travel experiences and interactions between immigrants and their guests may provide marketers with insights into host-guest dynamics within a VR context, thus potentially enabling tourism marketers to create better marketing campaigns. Social implications Future studies may be undertaken from non-Western and Western perspectives that examine the social interactions between hosts and guests in the context of VR travel. Very little research has been conducted that addresses the meanings and understandings attached to these interactions from the perspectives of both hosting and visiting groups. This research highlights the importance of families in tourism, a contrast with the relative blindness of tourism scholarship toward relations of domesticity and sociality. Originality/value What separates the social interactions between family members in the context of visiting friends and relatives travel from the traditional host-guest paradigm is that it does not involve strangers. This study uses social exchange theory to examine social interactions between hosts and guests who are familiar with each other.


Author(s):  
Nada Hammad ◽  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad ◽  
Avraam Papastathopoulos

Purpose This paper aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impact on their support for tourism development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from Abu Dhabi residents (n = 407), who represented 30 nationalities residing in the emirate. Based on social exchange theory, structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Findings Results suggest that Abu Dhabi residents perceive the impacts of tourism positively and are more sensitive to the environmental and economic influences of tourism than the social and cultural influences. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to Abu Dhabi residents; findings cannot be generalized to other emirates in the UAE, or other countries. Originality/value This study adds value to extant tourism literature by investigating residents’ perceptions of the influence of tourism in one of the richest cities worldwide, which aspires to be one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the Middle East.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ahmad Algassim ◽  
Akhmad Saufi ◽  
Diswandi Diswandi ◽  
Noel Scott

Purpose Al-Juhfa is a small village located near Rabigh City, between Makkah and Madinah, Saudi Arabia, with significant archaeological and religious resources. The purpose of this paper is to examine residents’ attitudes toward tourism development at Al-Juhfa. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative study uses purposive interviewing to recruit informants. Data was collected using semi-structured interview and open-ended questions. Eight semi-structured interviews were made and a list of open-ended questions was distributed to 134 informants. All data were analysed and no new codes were found after the answer of the first 49 informants analysed. Findings The results show that residents’ attitudes toward tourism development in general were positive with residents expecting to receive economic, social and environmental benefits. Residents were aware of potential positive and negative impacts of tourism development and appeared to balance these in developing their attitudes. Tourism was seen to empower residents and the religiosity of the community influenced their perception of tourism development. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by supporting the use of social exchange theory in this context and by recommending the inclusion of religiosity in further studies.


Author(s):  
Nan Yin

Purpose Job engagement is a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of an individual, the perfect link between individual characteristics, job factors and job performance and the important path of an organization creating competitive advantages. Based on the viewpoint of the social exchange theory, the study assumes that employees will generate different influencing outcomes, which are, in order, task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, job burnout and counter-productive work behavior (CWB), according to the degree to which they psychologically expect that job engagement could receive organizational rewards, and discusses the relationships between job engagement and task performance, organizational citizenship behavior and other variables. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the employees working as the salesmen from 48 computer and computer parts sales companies. The questionnaires of the study were the paired questionnaires. In total, 150 supervisor questionnaires and 633 employee questionnaires have been distributed. Under every sales head, there were some employees. In total, 501 valid paired questionnaires were collected. AMOS 23.0 was employed to process the data in the structural equation modeling and the causal relationships among all the factors were explored. Findings The results revealed that employee job engagement had positive influence on task performance and organizational citizenship behavior and had negative influence on job burnout and counter-productive work behavior; among all the moderating variables, organizational justice just significantly and negatively moderates job engagement and CWB. Originality/value Job engagement is an actively and fully absorbing state of an individual in the work, the perfect link among individual characteristics, job factors and job engagement and the important path of an organization creating competitive advantages. Most of the past studies have explored the positive effects of job engagement. This study tries to explore the positive and negative effects of employee’s job engagement based on the social exchange theory.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aakanksha Kataria ◽  
Kumari Rashmi ◽  
Mansi Rastogi

Purpose This study aims to investigate how workplace resourcefulness (positive psychological climate), as well as personal resources (psychological capital [PsyCap]), influence work engagement to promote change-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (Ch-OCBs) among Indian information technology (IT) personnel. Design/methodology/approach The social exchange theory and job demands-resources model are used to provide rationale for proposing a comprehensive mechanism including antecedents, moderators as well as mediators enabling Ch-OCBs among IT personnel. Structured questionnaires were administered targeting IT professionals and their supervisors to test the proposed relationships. The obtained data from 30 supervisors and 240 subordinates were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, SEM and moderated path analysis technique. Findings Psychological climate, PsyCap and work engagement positively relate to Ch-OCBs; PsyCap moderated the relationship between psychological climate and work engagement. Specifically, the relationship between psychological climate and work engagement has come out stronger for employees with high PsyCap. Work engagement fully mediated the relationship between psychological climate and Ch-OCBs. Practical implications The findings can be critical in promoting voluntary change-focused behaviors among Indian IT personnel, for Indian and foreign (non-Indian) multi-national corporations that are interested in reaping profits by availing change-driven extra-role services of their efficient and the most preferred Indian IT employees of the world. Originality/value This study addresses to the call for more research on change-focused promotive part of OCB and advances the literature by providing evidence on the proposed set of associations from fast-pacing Indian economy.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aasif Ali Bhat ◽  
Kakali Majumdar

PurposeThe present study tries to develop a model that assesses the factors that determine support for tourism development by residents of the Kashmir region.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data have been collected (n = 650) from the residents of the top five tourist destinations through a pre-tested questionnaire by a multistage convenient sampling method. A model has been drafted and tested through the technique of structural equation modeling by applying the social exchange theory as a theoretical framework.FindingsThe results revealed that residents who perceived more benefits were more expected to support tourism development, and residents who perceive more costs were less expected to support tourism development, thus supporting the social exchange theory.Originality/valueThe results of this study are extremely useful for the local government and tourism institutions in the future planning of tourism development and also fill the vast gap in the tourism literature with a theoretical base.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 670-692
Author(s):  
Jessica Vieira de Souza Meira ◽  
Murat Hancer

Purpose This research developed a conceptual model for the hospitality industry based on the employee-organization relationship using the social exchange theory as the theoretical framework. This study aims to consider perceived organizational support as the psychological empowerment antecedent, while work engagement and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior were considered as its outcome. This study also tested psychological empowerment as a mediator of these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from a sample of frontline hotel employees and analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling. A total of 242 completed and validated questionnaires were used for the analysis. Findings Perceived organizational support had a significant relationship with psychological empowerment (through meaning, competence, self-determination and impact), which also had a significant relationship with work engagement (through meaning and impact) and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (through meaning, self-determination and impact). Psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support with work engagement and service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Originality/value Although psychological empowerment is receiving further empirical attention in the hospitality field, little is known about its antecedents and outcomes. Hence, this research extends previous studies using the social exchange theory to fill these literature gaps and create a conceptual model for the hospitality industry based on the employee-organization relationship.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 919-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marylyn Carrigan ◽  
Solon Magrizos ◽  
Jordon Lazell ◽  
Ioannis Kostopoulos

PurposeThis article addresses the lack of scholarly attention paid to the sharing economy from a sociological perspective, with respect to the technology-mediated interactions between sharing economy users. The paper provides a critical overview of the sharing economy and its impact on business and communities and explores how information technology can facilitate authentic, genuine sharing through exercising and enabling conviviality and non-direct reciprocity.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins with a critique of the technology-mediated sharing economy, introduces the concept of conviviality as a tool to grow and shape community and sustainability within the sharing economy and then explores reciprocity and sharing behaviour. Finally, the paper draws upon social exchange theory to illustrate conviviality and reciprocity, using four case studies of technology-enabled sharing.FindingsThe paper contributes to the emerging debate around how the sharing economy, driven by information systems and technology, affects social cohesion and personal relationships. The paper elucidates the central role conviviality and reciprocity play in explaining the paradoxes, tensions and impact of the sharing economy on society. Conviviality and reciprocity are positioned as key capabilities of a more sustainable version of the sharing economy, enabled via information technology.Originality/valueThe findings reveal that information technology-mediated sharing enterprises should promote conviviality and reciprocity in order to deliver more positive environmental, economic and social benefits. The diversity of existing operations indicated by the findings and the controversies discussed will guide the critical study of the social potential of sharing economy to avoid treating all sharing alike.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 609-634
Author(s):  
Estelle van Tonder ◽  
Stephen G. Saunders ◽  
Leon T. de Beer

PurposeIn the absence of direct employee involvement, customers sharing knowledge and know-how with other customers during self-service encounters is key for promoting service quality. This study assessed the extent to which customer support and help during self-service encounters could simply be explained by multiple motivations of the social exchange theory.Design/methodology/approachA survey approach was followed. The model was tested among 258 electronic banking customers in South Africa and later cross-validated among 253 electronic banking customers in Australia. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis with country as the grouping variable, latent variable modelling and indirect tests were performed to assess interrelationships among diverse factors that may contribute to customer support and help during self-service encounters, as accounted for by motivations of the social exchange theory.FindingsAdequate model fit was obtained for the combined structural model, which was based on the invariant model. Value contribution and competence affirmation, pleasure derived from helping, reciprocity and reputation enhancement are relevant motivations of the social exchange theory that may impact customer support and help through knowledge sharing.Research implicationsThe study provides a simplified and more cohesive explanation of customers' motivations for engaging in customer support and helping behaviours during self-service encounters.Practical implicationsService providers seeking guidance on knowledge sharing among customers, which may lead to greater service quality, should benefit from this research.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to greater understanding of social exchanges by customers who provide support and help to other customers during self-service encounters, and that ultimately may affect service quality.


2020 ◽  
pp. 109634802091950
Author(s):  
Martin Schnitzer ◽  
Christopher Kössler ◽  
Philipp Schlemmer ◽  
Mike Peters

Analyzing residents’ support for events has become popular in sports tourism research. Based on the social exchange theory and the theory of reasoned action, this study tests a model of support for the 2018 UCI Road World Championships (N = 2,265). The findings show that the perceived image fit between an event and a place significantly influences residents’ overall attitude and event support. Furthermore, overall attitude mediates the relationship between the perceived fit and event support. This study supplements the literature (a) by testing the fit between event image and place image and its influence on residents’ attitude and support, (b) by analyzing the image fit of a summer sports event held in a well-known designated winter sports region, and (c) by providing recommendations for policy makers to achieve higher support from residents when bidding for and hosting sports events.


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