Involvement, place attachment, and environmentally responsible behaviour connected with geographical indication products

Abstract

Bonds between people and place are an important predictor of a tourist’s environmentally responsible behaviour (ERB). From a holistic perspective, the connection between people and place can be divided into bonds formed before the visit and those formed after the visit. However, insufficient research has been carried out on the bond formed between visitors and destination before the visit. This relationship between before visit and after visit people-place bonds, as well as how this relationship impacts visitor experience and environmentally responsible behaviour brings new understanding to the tourist experience. The origin site of the famous Chinese geographical indication (GI) product, Hangzhou Xihu Longjing Tea, is a place where such a people-place bond is formed before the visit and site involvement. Based on a sample of 371 questionnaires, it is verified that the people-place bond formed before the visit is worthy of attention. As when tourists form a strong connection between people and place through GI products before visiting the destination, they have better experience, stronger attachment to the place, and easier implementation of environmental protection behaviours. It also suggests that managers should make good use of GI resources to promote sustainable tourism and extend the scope of destination management to the stage before tourists visit.

摘要

人地关系是游客负责任环境行为的重要预测变量。从整体化的视角来看, 人地关系可以被分为到访目的地之前形成, 以及到访之后所形成两种类型。然而, 现有研究中较少关注游客到访目的地之前所形成的人地关系。这也是本研究探讨上述两类人地关系之间, 以及上述两类人地关系与游客体验和负责任环境行为之间关系的初衷。中国著名的地理标志产品:西湖龙井茶的原产地是此次研究的主要案例地, 而地理标志产品涉入则被概念化成为游客到访地理标志产品原产地之前所形成的人地关系。对371份问卷进行数据分析, 结果显示, 游客到访前所形成的人地关系非常值得学者们关注。因为当旅游者在到访目的地之前通过地理标志产品形成了较强的人地关系, 游客会获得更好的旅游体验, 更强的地方依恋, 以及更容易实施负责任的环境行为。同时, 研究结果也显示, 管理者应该充分利用地理标志产品资源来推动可持续旅游, 并将目的地管理的范围拓展到游客到访目的地之前的阶段。

Keywords:

• Geographical indication product
• involvement
• place attachment
• ERB
• tea tourism

关键词:

• 地理标志产品
• 涉入
• 地方依恋
• 负责任环境行为
• 茶旅游

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Science technology department of Zhejiang Province under Grant number 2018C35089, 2018C25028, and Macau Foundation (MF2015).

Notes on contributors

Qun Li

Dr. Qun Li is a lecturer at School of tourism, Hang Zhou Polytechnic. He received his PhD in the faculty of international tourism and management, City University of Macau and his current research interests include agritourism, sustainable development of tourism.

Xi Li

Dr. Xi Li is an associate professor and doctoral advisor at the Faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau. He received his PhD in School of Urban and Regional Sciences, East China Normal University. His research focuses on culture tourism, event management, and destination management.

Wei Chen

Dr. Wei Chen is a lecturer at Department of Tourism Planning, Tourism College of Zhejiang. She received her PhD in the faculty of international tourism and management, City University of Macau and her research interests include rural tourism, tourism planning and management.

Xinwei Su

Xinwei Su is a PhD student at the faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau and lecturer at the School of Tourism, Liming Vocational University. His research interests include development and planning of tourism culture and tourism resources; Intangible Cultural Heritage safeguarding and tourism development.

Runzhe Yu

Runzhe Yu is a graduate student at the faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau.