When and How Tourists Engage in Citizenship Behavior: The Interactive Effect of Trait Gratitude and Positive Resident–Tourist Contact

Abstract

This study investigates when and how trait gratitude stimulates tourist citizenship behavior (TCB). Building on trait activation theory, the present study proposes a mediated moderation model in which tourists’ trait gratitude and positive resident–tourist contact jointly influence TCB. In driving TCB, the interactive effect of trait gratitude and positive contact is mediated by perceived insider status. Data were collected from 497 Mount Wuyi tourists and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that trait gratitude positively influences TCB, and this relationship is moderated by positive contact. Furthermore, positive contact moderates the association between trait gratitude and perceived insider status. Additionally, perceived insider status, which is positively related to TCB, significantly mediates the moderating effects of positive contact on the link between tourists’ trait gratitude and TCB.

Revenge tourism value co-destruction: the role of resilience and altruism

“…For example, Cai et al (2019) found that frontline hospitality workers will be more likely to take charge when they believe their level of job autonomy is high enough to activate their prosocial motive, which should result in a higher assessment of their job performance. Though regarded as a theory more fitting toward organizational behavior, trait activation theory has also been proven useful in individual level, such as tourists’ satisfaction and citizenship behavior (Hon and Fung, 2019; Tu et al , 2022).…”

“…for co-creating value (P erez-Fern andez et al, 2022;Cai et al, 2019;Tu et al, 2022). Under the "revenge tourism" context, the sudden influx of tourists to certain destinations would strain hotels, restaurants, public transportation, etc., putting extra pressure on the normal operations of the destinations, which requires that tourists should have the ability to make provisional arrangements and adjust plans when necessary.…”

“…The achievement of value co-creation in any tourism encounter would not be possible without a clear understanding of the attitudes and behaviors of the key stakeholders. Studies have shown that tourists’ operant resources, such as knowledge and skills, traveling motives and personal characteristics, are essential for co-creating value (Pérez-Fernández et al , 2022; Cai et al , 2019; Tu et al , 2022). Under the “revenge tourism” context, the sudden influx of tourists to certain destinations would strain hotels, restaurants, public transportation, etc., putting extra pressure on the normal operations of the destinations, which requires that tourists should have the ability to make provisional arrangements and adjust plans when necessary.…”