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

Author

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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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivan Ka Wai Lai & Michael Hitchcock & Dong Lu & Yide Liu, 2018. "The Influence of Word of Mouth on Tourism Destination Choice: Tourist–Resident Relationship and Safety Perception among Mainland Chinese Tourists Visiting Macau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:7:p:2114-:d:153625
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Grubor, Aleksandar & Leković, Ksenija & Tomić, Slavica, 2019. "Tourists’ Recommendations: WOM Becomes Digital," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2019), Rovinj, Croatia, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Rovinj, Croatia, 12-14 September 2019, pages 493-501, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
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    8. Grubor, Aleksandar & Leković, Ksenija & Tomić, Slavica, 2020. "Tourists' Recommendations: Socio-demographic Analysis," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2020), Virtual Conference, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Virtual Conference, 10-12 September 2020, pages 441-449, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
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    13. Bing Yuan & Alessandro M. Peluso, 2021. "The Influence of Word-Of-Mouth Referral on Consumers’ Purchase Intention: Experimental Evidence from WeChat," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, January.

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