The Jungle of Support: What Do We Really Mean When We Say “Residents’ Support”?

Abstract

The aim of this research is to provide a conceptual framework to facilitate the standardization of the concept of “residents’ support” in tourism studies. The model is designed to prevent ambiguity and confusion that may arise in the use of the generic term “residents’ support.” Social Exchange Theory and the Theory of Reasoned Action will be incorporated for the purposes of contextualizing the term “residents’ support” with respect to three dimensions: attitudinal, intentional, or behavioral. A longitudinal analysis of the term “residents’ support” will be conducted on the basis of the proposed model. Fifty-four articles published between 2004 and the first quarter of 2020 have been studied to classify the items used to create the construct of “residents’ support” in tourism studies and to draw conclusions about the work of scholars and tourism agents.

What Affects Support for Wetland Tourism? A Case Study from Sri Lanka

“…The findings of this study have practical implications for local authorities when planning, designing, and implementing future tourism development ideas in the wetland area [156]. They suggest that monitoring residents' attitudes is important if authorities are determined to work with policies that would maximize the benefits of tourism development and minimize the negative impacts [68,155].…”

Experiences, Motivations, Perceptions, and Attitudes Regarding Ethnic Minority Village Tourism

“…They are well known and tend to be the most impressive to tourists and have become the first choice for people to experience the customs of ethnic minorities in Guizhou. Other specific features frequently cited in the blogs were Gulou (drum-tower, n = 92), Diaojiaolou (pile dwellings, 78), culture (73), nationality (72), inn (59), Zhaizi (stockade village, 57), terraces (53), and architecture (46). This demonstrated that tourists had a high degree of recognition of the unique characteristics, structures, and living conditions of these Guizhou ethnic minorities.…”

“…On the demand side, perceived value research involves consumer perceptions of service quality and the value of cultural products [46]; relationships among the influencing factors of purchases and motivation [47]; motivations and development strategy of villages [48]; differences in tourist perceived value [49,50]; and public perceived value [51]. Su et al [52] found that ethnic encounters were not perceived by tourists as a primary motivation to visit ethnic minority villages, but residents' support, including attitude support (AS), intention support (IS), and behavioral support (BS) [53] could contribute to the formation of satisfactory on-site experiences. Perceptual images of specific cases have been determined.…”

“…These were the main features recalling their impressions and experiences of the villages. Words such as performance (88), scenic spot (53), traditions (45), admission tickets (43), special (43), hosts (42), and nature (42) were used by tourists to describe the environment, atmosphere, and management of the villages. Table 4 shows that's tourists' material culture perceptions consisted of food, clothing transportation, and architecture.…”

Important Factors Affecting Rural Tourists’ Aesthetic Experience: A Case Study of Zoumatang Village in Ningbo

“…In a given community, the impact of people's familiarity with the environment and long-term interaction cannot be ignored. The resident can favor or hinder the future of tourism in a region with his/her actions [69]. "Villagers" should also become an important part of the aesthetic experience since they not only provide grass-roots services for tourists, but also need to participate in tourism development, give full play to the interactivity between villagers and the environment, and show the practical interactions of unique products, livelihoods [70], and farming culture to provide tourists with a deeply immersive and satisfying aesthetic experience.…”