The Influence of Word of Mouth on Tourism Destination Choice: Tourist–Resident Relationship and Safety Perception among Mainland Chinese Tourists Visiting Macau

Ivan Ka Wai Lai, Michael Hitchcock, Dong Lu and Yide Liu
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Ivan Ka Wai Lai: Faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau, Avenida Padre Tomás Pereira, Taipa 999078, Macau, China
Michael Hitchcock: Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK
Dong Lu: School of Business, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610101, China
Yide Liu: School of Business, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa 999078, Macau, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: The growth of urban tourism has the potential to increase tourist–resident tensions that limit the sustainable growth of tourism in many destination cities. Visitors’ perceptions of poor tourist–resident relationships and conditions of safety may have an impact on their attitudes, especially with regard to trip satisfaction. This study investigates the roles of tourist–resident relationship and safety perception on the relationship between service quality, trip satisfaction, and word of mouth (WOM). The results of this empirical study ( n = 386) show that the tourist–resident relationship and safety perception have significant effects on trip satisfaction, but only safety perception reveals a significant effect on WOM. Furthermore, the results also indicate that the tourist–resident relationship and safety perception moderate the relationship between service quality and trip satisfaction, and that the tourist–resident relationship also moderates the relationship between trip satisfaction and WOM. An understanding of these mechanisms can help governments to create appropriate policies to support the sustainable development of tourism and promote their tourism industries by fostering tourists’ WOM.

Keywords: tourist–resident relationship; safety perception; trip satisfaction; word of mouth; Chinese tourists (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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