The Determinants of Loyalty to Ecotourism against the Background of Consumer Satisfaction
Abstract
The desire to gain knowledge about the cultural identity and nature of unexplored places has been inherent in humans since time immemorial. However, the emergence of motivation to care, preserve and increase the cultural, historical, natural and recreational values of destinations indicates a higher level of consciousness and responsibility of tourists. The commitment of tourists to this kind of travel is caused not only by marketing prerequisites, but also by socio-psychological factors different: responsibility, psychological ownership. Due to international competition, the relevance of improving the tourist image is increasing, for which it is necessary to develop the concept of socially and environmentally responsible tourism, develop useful behavioral attitudes in society, which increases the role of transfer of cultural and natural knowledge, consolidation of tourists and local residents in improving the tourist image. The study considers the construct of loyalty to a particular destination. The aim of the study is to deepen the analysis of socio-psychological factors of loyalty to ecotourism and develop a methodology for their study. On the basis of correlational, empirical and sociological methods the direct correlation between loyalty and responsibility, satisfaction, positive experience, psychological property and image of the destination was substantiated. It is proved that research activity, intellectual preparation, motivation, respect for nature, cultural involvement and involvement of local residents have a positive effect on the level of responsibility. Cultural involvement and protection of nature, psychological attachment and social interaction increase the sense of psychological ownership, in contrast to the massiveness factor of the place, which decreases it.
References
[2] Akgün, A. E., Senturk, H. A., Keskin, H. and Onala, I. 2020. The relationships among nostalgic emotion, destination images and tourist behaviors: An empirical study of Istanbul. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 16: 100355. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2019.03.009
[3] Carvache-Franco, M., Carrascosa-López, C. and Carvache-Franco, W. 2021a. The perceived value and future behavioral intentions in ecotourism: A study in the Mediterranean natural parks from Spain. Land, 10(11): 1133. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/land10111133
[4] Carvache-Franco, M., Carvache-Franco, O. and Carvache-Franco, W. 2020. Exploring the satisfaction of ecotourism in protected natural areas. Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites, 29(2): 672-683. DOI:https://doi.org/10.30892/gtg.29223-498
[5] Carvache-Franco, M., et al. 2021b. Satisfaction and its relationship with loyalty in ecotourism: A study in Costa Rica.” Journal of Environmental Management & Tourism, 3(51): 787-796. DOI:https://doi.org/10.14505//jemt.12.3(51).18
[6] Carvache-Franco, M., et al. 2022. Satisfaction factors that predict loyalty in ecotourism: A study of foreign tourism in Costa Rica. Land, 11(1): 125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/land11010125
[7] Ceballos Lascurain, H. 1984. The future of ecotourism. Mexico Journal, 1: 13-14.
[8] Ceballos Lascurain, H. 1993. Ecotourism in Central America. Technical Report for WTO. UNDP.
[9] Chaulagain, S., Wiitala, J. and Fu, X. 2019. The impact of country image and destination image on US tourists’ travel intention. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 12: 1-11. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2019.01.005
[10] Fletcher, R. 2019Ecotourism after nature: Anthropocene tourism as a new capitalist “fix”. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(4): 522-535. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2018.1471084
[11] Hermawan, H., Wijayanti, A. and Nugroho, D. S. 2019. Loyalty on Ecotourism analysed using the factors of tourist attraction, safety, and amenities, with satisfaction as an intervening variable. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 8(5): 1-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31227/osf.io/sbdmu
[12] Hoang, D. S., et al. 2021. Factors to enhance tourist’s ecotourism loyalty, an empirical study in Viet Nam. Webology, 18: 727-737. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14704/web/v18si05/web18257
[13] Junk, R. 1980. Wieviel Tounsten pro Hektar StrancP GEO. Heft, 10: 154-156.
[14] Kumar, J. 2019. How psychological ownership stimulates participation in online brand communities? The moderating role of member type. Journal of Business Research, 105: 243-257. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.08.019
[15] Lin, M.T.-Y. 2019. Effects of experiential marketing on experience value and customer satisfaction in ecotourism. Ekoloji, 28(107): 3151-3156.
[16] Liu, S., and Li, W.-Y. 2020. Ecotourism research progress: A bibliometric analysis during 1990–2016. Sage Open, 10(2): 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020924052
[17] Morewedge, C. K. 2021. Psychological ownership: Implicit and explicit. Current Opinion in Psychology, 39: 125-132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.10.003
[18] Musavengane, R., and Matikiti, R. 2015. Does social capital really enhance community based ecotourism? A review of the literature. African Journal of Hospitality Tourism and Leisure, 4(1): 1-18.
[19] Oliver, R.L. 1999. Whence consumer loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 63(4_suppl1): 33-44. DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/1252099
[20] Peck, J., Kirk, C.P., Luangrath, A.W. and Shu, S.B. 2021. Caring for the commons: Using psychological ownership to enhance stewardship behavior for public goods. Journal of Marketing, 85(2): 33-49. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242920952084
[21] Pham, H. S. T., and Khanh, C.N.T. 2020. Ecotourism intention: the roles of environmental concern, time perspective and destination image. Tourism Review, 76(5): 1141-1153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/tr-09-2019-0363
[22] Pine II, B. J., and Gilmore, J. H. The experience economy, with a new preface by the authors: Competing for customer time, attention, and money. Harvard Business Press, 2019.
[23] Quoquab, F., Mohammad, J. and Sobri, A. M. M. 2020. Psychological engagement drives brand loyalty: evidence from Malaysian ecotourism destinations. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 30(1): 132-147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/jpbm-09-2019-2558
[24] Quynh, N.H., Hoai, N. T. and Loi, N. V. 2021. The role of emotional experience and destination image on ecotourism satisfaction. Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC, 25(2): 312-332. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/sjme-04-2020-0055
[25] Rivera, M. A., and Croes, R. 2010. Ecotourists' loyalty: will they tell about the destination or will they return? Journal of Ecotourism, 9(2): 85-103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14724040902795964
[26] Ruhanen, L. 2019. The prominence of eco in ecotourism experiences: An analysis of post-purchase online reviews. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 39: 110-116. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2019.03.006
[27] Salman, A., Jaafar, M. and Mohamad, D. 2020. A comprehensive review of the role of Ecotourism in sustainable tourism development. e-Review of Tourism Research, 18(2): 215-233.
[28] Spreng, R.A., MacKenzie, S.B. and Olshavsky, R. W. 1996. A reexamination of the determinants of consumer satisfaction. Journal of Marketing, 60(3): 15-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1251839
[29] Sugathan, P., and Ranjan, K. R. 2019. Co-creating the tourism experience. Journal of Business Research 100: 207-217. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.03.032
[30] Walker, J. R. 2021. Introduction to Hospitality, EPub, Global Edition. Pearson Education.
[31] Wallace, G., and Russell, A. 2004. Eco-cultural tourism as a means for the sustainable development of culturally marginal and environmentally sensitive regions. Tourist Studies, 4(3): 235-254. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797604057326
[32] Zhang, H., and Xu, H. 2019. Impact of destination psychological ownership on residents’ “place citizenship behavior”. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 14: 100391. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2019.100391
Copyright© 2024 The Author(s). Published by ASERS Publishing 2024. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of CC-BY 4.0 license.