Robin Nunkoo

Residents’ attitudes to tourism: a longitudinal study of 140 articles from 1984 to 2010

This paper is a longitudinal study of 140 articles on residents’ attitudes to tourism published in Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and Journal of Travel Research from 1984 to 2010. Content analysis was used to determine the nature of the articles and the research approaches used. Although most articles were atheoretical, over the survey period an increasing proportion of studies made use of a variety of theories drawn from other disciplines to investigate the topic. The majority of studies were quantitative in nature, while a few studies used qualitative and mixed-methods approaches. Based on the results, some implications for research design and possibilities for future research are discussed. The paper concludes that studies on the topic have evolved from being low on methodological sophistication and theoretical awareness to being high on both aspects. Research on this topic has reached a stage of active scholarship in theory development followed by empirical testing. The studys limitations are discussed, which readers should take into account when evaluating its findings.

Use of Structural Equation Modeling in Tourism Research: Past, Present, and Future

This study reviewed use of covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) in 209 articles published in nine tourism journals between 2000 and 2011. Time-series analysis suggested that the number of SEM publications is explained by linear and quadratic time effects. Results indicated that although SEM practices have improved in some areas, tourism researchers do not always engage in the recommended best practices. Problematic areas were related to testing of alternative a priori models, reporting of multivariate normality, estimating effect size, and assessing reliability and validity. Some of the recommended fit indices were also underutilized. The review also found few differences in SEM practices between top-tier journals and other publications in the tourism field. On the basis of these results, suggestions to improve use of SEM in tourism studies are discussed in the light of recent developments in this technique.

Residents' Satisfaction With Community Attributes and Support for Tourism

This study develops and tests a structural model of residents’ support tourism development, with the social exchange theory as its theoretical base. The model incorporates three exogenous latent variables, namely, community satisfaction with neighborhood conditions, community commitment, and satisfaction with community services. Perceived positive and negative impacts of tourism are proposed as the mediating variables between the exogenous latent variables and the ultimate dependent variable, given as support for tourism. Eight path hypotheses are proposed and tested using a sample of 363 residents. Perceptions of tourism impacts were found to influence support for tourism development. Findings also suggest that residents’ satisfaction with neighborhood conditions and community services are important determinants of perceived positive and negative impacts of tourism. Community commitment was found not to be an antecedent of attitudes to tourism. The practical implications of the study are discussed, together with its limitations and scope for future research.

Developments in Hospitality Marketing and Management: Social Network Analysis and Research Themes

Academic journals, with their rigorous peer-review process, play a central role in the scientification of knowledge. However, researchers and scholars often fail to appreciate and understand the black box of such agents of knowledge production. Using content analysis of articles published in the two most recent volumes of Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, this article attempts to shed some lights on the nature of knowledge in hospitality studies. The results indicated that research is highly concentrated in the developed world, while the voices of developing nations are marginalized. This pattern provides some indication of underlying power dimensions in the production of hospitality knowledge. A social network analysis of contributors indicated that hospitality research is largely the product of collaborative efforts among members of the scientific community. Collaboration among researchers from the same country was the most common form of networking. In terms of research areas, the behaviors of travelers and consumers of hospitality and tourism services were well-studied among scholars.

Applying the means-end chain theory and the laddering technique to the study of host attitudes to tourism

Scholars investigating local residents’ attitudes toward tourism have often used different types of measurement procedures based on positivistic paradigms, while very few researchers have based their studies on purely qualitative approaches. This paper introduces and discusses a qualitative method known as the means-end theory and its associated laddering technique, which can be used to investigate host attitudes to tourism. The laddering technique, based on the means-end approach is recommended to understand values, which influence attitudes, since from a social psychology discourse, values are considered as antecedents of attitudes and opinions. It is argued that through an understanding of the personal values of the respondents, it is possible to have a different perspective on their attitudes and opinions toward tourism. The authors are not claiming that such an approach is superior to other measurement procedures and research paradigms, but argue that the means-end theory and the laddering technique have considerable potential to shed light on issues surrounding this research area. Despite the limitations associated with such methods, it is argued that laddering based on means-end theory deserves further investigation and empirical testing by scholars investigating local residents’ attitudes to development.

Island residents' identities and their support for tourism: an integration of two theories

Most studies that examine tourism impacts and community attitudes have been carried out from the perspective of industrialized economies, making the findings less valid for small islands. This paper discusses some pertinent issues in relation to tourism development and community attitudes in small islands, and it develops and presents a conceptual framework based on social exchange theory and identity theory. The different facets of identity relevant to small-island communities that are likely to influence attitudes and support for tourism are incorporated in the framework and discussed. These include occupational identity, environmental identity and gender identity. Based on these, five propositions are developed. The study concludes that inclusion of identity variables in behavioral models could increase their predictive power in explaining attitudes to tourism and consequent support for the industry.

Residents’ Support for Tourism Testing Alternative Structural Models

Social exchange theory (SET) has made significant contributions to research on residents’ support for tourism. Nevertheless, studies are based on an incomplete set of variables and are characterized by alternative, yet contradictory, and theoretically sound research propositions. Using key constructs of SET, this study develops a baseline model of residents’ support and compares it with four competing models. Each model contains the terms of the baseline model and additional relationships reflecting alternative theoretical possibilities. The models were tested using data collected from residents of Niagara Region, Canada. Results indicated that in the best fitted model, residents’ support for tourism was influenced by their perceptions of positive impacts. Residents’ power and their trust in government significantly predicted their life satisfaction and their perceptions of positive impacts. Personal benefits from tourism significantly influenced residents’ perceptions of the positive and negative impacts of tourism. The study provides valuable and clearer insights on relationships among SET variables.

Structural equation modelling and regression analysis in tourism research.

This paper explores the concept of structural equation modelling (SEM) and discusses the steps which researchers should follow when using this technique. This involves the development of a theoretical model, testing of a confirmatory measurement model, and evaluating the structural model with hypothesised path relations. For the benefit of readers, the discussion is supported by an illustration of a theoretical model predicting residents’ support for tourism, developed on the premise of the social exchange theory. The paper emphasises that the proper application of SEM depends largely on theory, where every step in the analysis is based on theoretical reasoning. The advantages of SEM over regression analysis are discussed and these are grouped in four categories: (1) modelling of measurement errors and unexplained variances, (2) simultaneous testing of relationships, (3) ability to link micro- and macro-perspectives, and (4) best-fitting model and theory development. The limitations of SEM over regression analysis are: (1) difficulty in choosing and using SEM software packages; (2) complexity and ambiguity; (3) limited use in exploratory research; and (4) inability to model ‘truly’ categorical variables. The paper concludes that although SEM has considerable advantages over regression analysis, it does not replace it.

Rural residents’ attitudes to tourism and the moderating effects of social capital

Scholars have rarely considered the role of social capital in shaping residents’ reactions to tourism development. A theoretical model integrating research on residents’ attitudes, community development, and social capital was developed and tested on a sample of 556 Korean rural residents using structural equation modeling. Multi-group analysis was used to test the moderating effects of social capital on each path relationships proposed in the model. Results indicated that perceived environmental impacts of tourism influenced community satisfaction, which in turn predicted support for tourism. Residents’ perceptions of the socioeconomic impacts of tourism influenced their support for rural tourism. Social capital shaped the ways in which residents responded to tourism development. Interestingly, our results suggest that a high level of social capital among community members is not always desirable as it does not foster pro-tourism attitudes. The lesson to be drawn is that only if the negative consequences of social capital are recognized and managed can communities be built in ways that contribute to sustainable rural tourism development.

More than just biological sex differences: examining the structural relationship between gender identity and information search behavior.

The influence of gender on travelers’ information search behavior continues to attract the attention of researchers. However, most scholars have studied gender differences from a biological perspective, treating gender as a unitary theoretical concept. This article challenges such an approach and argues for a more differentiated perspective to the study of gender differences in information search behavior. It approaches gender differences from a psychological perspective and proposes that the travelers’ gender identity (masculinity and femininity) is a determinant of their search behavior. The gender schema theory and the selectivity theory inform the model of the study. Five hypotheses are developed and are tested using responses collected from 568 tourists. Results from the structural equation modeling analysis indicate support for all hypotheses, confirming that gender identity is a good determinant of travelers’ search behavior. Travelers displaying high femininity traits were found to engage in more internal as well as external information search. Respondents with high masculinity traits relied less on both internal and external search for information. The theoretical and managerial implications, as well as the limitations of the study are discussed. The study also provides some directions for future research.