Residents’ Engagement Behavior in Destination Branding

Yuzong Zhao, Xiaotian Cui and Yongrui Guo
Additional contact information
Yuzong Zhao: School of Tourism and Geography Science, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China
Xiaotian Cui: School of Tourism and Geography Science, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China
Yongrui Guo: School of Tourism and Geography Science, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: Residents play an important role in the destination branding process. Extant studies have not yet integrated analyses of residents’ engagement behavior and the factors that affect it. In this study, we investigated the influence of place identity, place brand identity, place brand commitment, and perceived benefits of tourism on residents’ engagement behavior (brand ambassadorship behavior, brand citizenship behavior) in destination branding. Derived from a sample of 380 residents of Zhouzhuang, one of China’s most important tourism destinations, the data for this research were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3.3.2. The findings reveal that residents’ emotions towards destinations and brands and the perceived benefits of tourism significantly positively influence brand ambassadorship behavior and brand citizenship behavior. Residents’ engagement behavior in destination branding is influenced by mechanisms of social identity and social exchange. This study reveals the antecedents that affect residents’ engagement behavior in destination branding. The results also provide comprehensive insight into residents’ engagement behavior in destination branding based on social identity and social exchange theories.

Keywords: destination branding; place branding; brand ambassadorship behavior; brand citizenship behavior; brand identity; place identity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/10/5852/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/10/5852/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:10:p:5852-:d:813760

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().