Authenticity, satisfaction, and place attachment: A conceptual framework for cultural tourism in African island economies

Abstract

Small islands often host distinctive resources to influence their future through tourism development. Island economies in Africa have witnessed a growing number of tourists seeking authentic cultural and natural heritage tourism attractions. This paper critically examines and bridges the nexus between perceived authenticity, place attachment, place satisfaction and cultural behavioural intentions of tourists in African island economies. Adopting a theoretical framework from the authenticity literature, and the attitude-behaviour framework, this paper develops and proposes a conceptual model to investigate how authenticity of a cultural tourism attraction might influence place satisfaction, which in turn might influence levels of place attachment and prompt cultural behavioural intentions of tourists in African island economies. This research conceptually contributes to knowledge advocating the associations between constructs of authenticity, place satisfaction, place attachment, and cultural behavioural intentions of tourists in African island economies. Limitations of the study and practical implications for sustainable tourism development are discussed.

Keywords:

• authenticity
• place satisfaction
• place attachment
• cultural behavioural intentions

1. Introduction

With the modern and sophisticated tourist in search of the authentic tourism product (Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2011), cultural tourism has gained increasing significance in many island destinations (Ramkissoon et al., 2011). Islands host distinctive cultural and natural resources that serve as central assets in the highly competitive international market (Buhalis, 2000), contributing largely to island economies. Scholars are becoming increasingly interested in evaluating tourists’ perceived authenticity of these cultural and natural resources and how these attractions are endowed with value (Tuan, 1980; Milligan, 1998). Tourist attractions set the context for social and psychological interactions between tourists and the place (Dredge, 2010; Ramkissoon et al., 2012). Place attachment, originating from attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969), has emerged as a central concept in the environmental psychology literature reflecting the emotional and social ties binding people to specific settings (Scannell & Gifford, 2010a, 2010b; Raymond et al., 2011).

Place satisfaction is another well-examined construct in the literature. Given that satisfying experiences predict future intention (Lee et al., 2012), an understanding of how tourist satisfaction may enhance place attachment in cultural and natural settings (Halpenny, 2006) may contribute to the success of island destinations (Taplin, 2013). Place satisfaction is defined as a multidimensional summary judgement of the perceived quality of a setting, meeting an individual's needs for the physical characteristics of a place, its services, and social dimensions (Stedman, 2002). Perceived as a key to the success of tourist attractions in today's competitive market (Tonge et al., 2011; Ramkissoon et al., 2013b), the concept has been extensively used by destination site managers to understand visitors’ levels of place satisfaction (e.g. Hwang et al., 2005; Tonge & Moore, 2007; Ramkissoon et al., 2013a, 2013b). Researchers have demonstrated some evidence that place satisfaction predict place attachment (e.g. Lee et al., 2012; Ramkissoon et al., 2014).

Maintaining satisfactory tourist experiences and fostering high levels of place attachment to cultural and natural attributes is important for site managers. While constructs of authenticity, place satisfaction, place attachment, and cultural behavioural intentions have been well documented, studies investigating the association between these constructs are scarce in the literature. The premise of this study is to develop and propose a model of cultural tourism consumption for African island economies. Drawing from existing theories from the consumer behaviour and environmental psychology literature, this paper develops a conceptual model integrating constructs of authenticity, place satisfaction, and place attachment (place identity, place dependence, place affect, place social bonding) in one single integrative model to explain tourists’ cultural consumption in African island destinations. The theoretical framework is underpinned by an attitudinal approach to the study of tourists’ intentions to consume natural and cultural assets based on attitude-behaviour models. Future studies could draw from the propositions which emanate from the proposed framework. Not only will the empirical testing of the propositions bring important insights to island destination marketers and managers, it will contribute further to the existing body of knowledge on authenticity, place satisfaction, place attachment, and cultural tourism consumption in island economies.

2. Literature review

2.1 Tourism in island economies

Island economies face serious difficulties in developing and expanding their economies due to their small size. Until recently, reliance on tourism for the growth of small island economies was viewed with scepticism by many researchers (e.g. Fagence, 1999; Rao, 2002) due to their size constraints. Croes (2006) argued that, despite what the critics say, tourism development is now a common strategy used by several islands to achieve greater economic performance. Islands with their physical and climatic characteristics have been popular tourist destinations for a long time (Sharpley, 2001; Apostolopoulous & Gayle, 2002; Croes, 2006). Tourism has served as an important tool to overcome size constraints and economically sustain small island developing states (Croes, 2006), often outperforming larger economies (Armstrong & Read, 2000, 2002; Easterly & Kraay, 2000; Lanza & Pigliaru, 2000; Apostolopoulos & Gayle, 2002). Evidence in the literature shows the increasing importance of the tourism industry in the Caribbean, Pacific, and African island economies (e.g. Tsartas, 1992; Mc Elroy & de Albuquerque, 1998; Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2010, 2011) attracting more foreign exchange earnings to finance imports (Shareef & Hoti, 2005; Hoti et al., 2007). Tourism as a means of economic development accounts for 20 to 50% of gross national product (Hampton & Christensen, 2007) across several small island economies.

Tourism has also played a significant role in the development of peripheral, remote, and insular regions by facilitating the transition from agriculture-based economies to the service industry (King, 1993). Countries specialising in services perform well since the latter maximise economic performance (Oyewole, 2001). A similar view is shared by Latimer (1985) and Modeste (1995), who argue that economic development in small island economies is positively affected by tourism. Tourism in island states, including small island developing states, also helps in reducing the wide gap between developed and developing countries (Jenkins, 1982; Croes 2006), assisting with poverty reduction by providing employment opportunities to the host communities. As such, the tourism sector in small island economies is regarded as an easy and high-profit option for economic growth (OECD, 1967; Seetanah, 2011) and social improvement (Cooper & Buhalis, 1992). It helps to foster a good relationship between the host and the guest and facilitates tourism spending into the local economy. While recent research (e.g. Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2011; Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2011, 2012, 2013) recognise that tourism contributes to the economic and social foundation of small island economies, new tourism strategies are required to retain their competitiveness on the global tourism market.

As with the Caribbean and Pacific island destinations, tourism in African islands such as Mauritius, Madagascar, and the Seychelles has resulted in several economic and social benefits (e.g. Ramkissoon et al., 2011; Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2013). These African island states serve as gateways for their distinctive cultural and natural assets, which are important components of destination marketing. The study sets out to make some important theoretical contributions to the literature and seeks to provide important practical implications to destination managers and marketers of African islands. Researchers working on island states (e.g. Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2010, 2011) have urged other scholars to develop and empirically test new conceptual frameworks that can encompass distinctive constructs in cultural tourism consumption in such economies. Considering constructs of authenticity, place satisfaction, and place attachment dimensions (identity, dependence, affect, social bonding) in one integrative model is likely to provide a better theoretical and statistical understanding of their relationship with cultural behavioural intentions in African island economies.

2.2 Perceived authenticity

While tourism development in African island economies has been well studied (Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2011, 2013; Prayag & Ryan, 2012), research on the perceived authenticity of cultural and natural assets in these destinations remains scarce in the tourism literature. Yet, with the growing trends of destination competitiveness, these resources are important assets to developing island economies (Buhalis, 2000; Croes, 2006). The concept of authenticity defined as the interpretation of the genuineness and increased appreciation of the tourism object (Chambers, 2009) plays a significant role in destination competitiveness (Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2010, 2011). However, much of the prior work on perceived authenticity has concentrated on the developed economies (e.g. Richards, 2007). African island destinations are traditionally represented by the sand, sun, and sea (Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2010). In addition to the climatic characteristics, the rich culture, cultural sites and monuments, and distinctive natural environments make them attractive destinations for seekers of authenticity. From a marketing perspective, the distinctive cultural and natural characteristics these islands host add value to the 3S core product (Crang, 1996) and may increase tourist satisfaction with the destination. Some prior studies have evidenced that authenticity has an impact on customer satisfaction (e.g. Song et al., 2013).

Researchers further explore tourist perceived authenticity as an important driver, value, motive, or interest (e.g. Grayson & Martinec, 2004; Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2010; Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2014) in cultural tourism consumption. Ramkissoon & Uysal (2010) reported a positive influence of tourists’ perceived authenticity on their cultural behavioural intentions on the island of Mauritius. Other studies have shown a positive effect of authenticity on repurchase intentions (loyalty) (e.g. Kolar & Zabkar, 2010; Zhou et al., 2013). However, others argue that the role and importance of perceived authenticity to explain behaviour demands more investigation (e.g. Song et al., 2014). Researchers have yet to consider how perceived authenticity of cultural and natural attractions can influence tourist satisfaction in African island destinations.

From a cultural tourism consumption perspective, this study proposes to investigate the association between tourists’ perceived authenticity and their levels of satisfaction with the cultural and natural attributes in African island destinations. It further proposes to explore the direct relationship between perceived authenticity and cultural behavioural intentions. Moreover, understanding perceived authenticity as an antecedent of tourist satisfaction will allow destination marketers to plan, develop, and further concentrate on the notions of authenticity when promoting the destination:

• Proposition 1: Perceived authenticity positively influences place satisfaction.

2.3 Place attachment

Place attachment highlights the positive emotional bonds emerging from the interactions of people with the settings of a place (Ramkissoon et al., 2012; Lee & Shen, 2013). Commonly conceptualised as place dependence and place identity (Williams et al., 1992), place attachment has attracted significant interest from scholars and researchers investigating people's interactions with natural and cultural landscapes (e.g. Chung et al., 2011; Ramkissoon et al., 2013b). While Williams et al.’s (1992) proposed two-dimensional scale of place attachment (place dependence, place identity) has long been considered as a robust measure to capture the intensity of the human–place bond in such settings, other researchers have suggested additional dimensions of place attachment such as place affect (Kals et al., 1999; Halpenny, 2010) and place social bonding (Hammitt et al., 2009; Ramkissoon et al., 2013a, 2013b).

2.3.1 Place identity

Several authors postulate that when an individual feels strongly bound to a place, this refers to the connection between the place and one's personal identity (Devine-Wright & Clayton, 2010; Qingjiu & Maliki, 2013). This bond conceptualised as place identity (Prohansky et al., 1983) contains both cognitive and affective elements, and is an important part of one's whole sense of identity (Zenker & Rutter, 2014). Places, with their cultural significance, offer individuals an opportunity to identify themselves with distinctive environments (Ramkissoon et al., 2013a) and express their sense of identity (Budruk et al., 2009; Mosquera & Sanchez, 2013).

2.3.2 Place dependence

Another well-researched and reliable dimension of place attachment is place dependence. Defined as the functional attachment to a place (Stokols & Shumacker, 1981), place dependence is thought to be important for the fulfilment of specific goals. In addition to its functional purpose, it is used to compare how well the place's settings compare with other available settings hosting the same attributes (Williams et al., 1992). Cultural attributes offer individuals the opportunity to reflect on the importance of such resources necessary to carry out desired activities, and evaluate how they compare with other alternatives.

2.3.3 Place affect

Place affect is an under-researched dimension of place attachment reflecting the emotional ties an individual shares with a place (Halpenny, 2010; Ramkissoon et al., 2012). Stronger affective links are often noticed among people with greater experience with natural environments than those with lesser experience (Hinds & Sparks, 2008; Ramkissoon et al., 2013a, 2013b). Natural settings generate a sense of psychological well-being for visitors (Korpela et al., 2009; Ramkissoon et al., 2012). These affective links are strengthened when individuals develop their sentiments and give meanings to these natural (Tuan, 1977; Rolero & De Picolli, 2010) and cultural spaces.

2.3.4 Place social bonding

Scholars have shown that place belongingness, familiarity, and community attachment are associated with place social bonds (e.g. Kyle & Chick, 2007). Attachment is often associated in places with meanings that significant others share (Lee et al., 2012) and, as Hidalgo & Hernandez (2001) argued, these social bonds can be stronger than attachment to houses and neighbourhoods. Place social bonding focuses on the social context that binds individuals with the physical and cultural landscape (Kyle et al., 2004; Buta et al., 2014). Cultural settings do provide a context for people to socialise (Kyle & Chick, 2007; Lee et al., 2012). Social bonds, in fact, can be the primary source of meaning in some contexts (Kyle et al., 2005; Ramkissoon et al., 2013a), and demands more investigation.

2.4 Place satisfaction and place attachment

The association between visitor satisfaction and place attachment is attracting significant interest in the literature (e.g. Ramkissoon et al., 2013a, 2013b; Veasna et al., 2013). While some evidence suggests that visitor satisfaction is an antecedent of place attachment (Yuksel et al., 2010; Ramkissoon et al., 2013a, 2013b), recent studies suggest that satisfaction is a predictor of place attachment (Lee et al., 2012; Ramkissoon et al., 2014). Further, little empirical work – with the exception of a few (e.g. Ramkissoon et al., 2014) – has investigated the effect of visitor satisfaction on the respective dimensions of place attachment (dependence, identity, affect, social bonding). This suggests the need for more constructive research on the association between these two constructs in tourism settings (Hou et al., 2005; O'Neill et al., 2010). The following propositions emanate from the study:

• Proposition 2: Place satisfaction positively influences place identity.

• Proposition 3: Place satisfaction positively influences place dependence.

• Proposition 4: Place satisfaction positively influences place affect.

• Proposition 5: Place satisfaction positively influences place social bonding.

2.5 Place attachment and cultural behavioural intentions

Place attachment has also been proposed as an antecedent of behavioural intentions. Building an integrative concept of place attachment and an investigation of its relationship with future behavioural intentions are attracting significant interest from researchers and destination marketers (e.g. Prayag & Ryan, 2012; Ramkissoon et al., 2013b; Veasna et al., 2013). Conceptualised as place dependence and place identity, place attachment was a significant predictor of loyalty mediated by visitor satisfaction (Yuksel et al., 2010; Prayag & Ryan, 2012). Similarly, other studies (e.g. Alexandris et al., 2006; Lee et al., 2007; Yuksel et al., 2010) reported the positive influence of place identity and place dependence on loyalty (revisit intentions). In a recent study by Ramkissoon et al. (2013a), place affect and place social bonding were antecedents of park visitors’ pro-environmental behavioural intentions. Therefore, it can be argued that place identity, place dependence, place affect, and place social bonding may be predictors of tourists’ cultural intentions:

• Proposition 6: Place identity positively influences cultural behavioural intentions.

• Proposition 7: Place dependence positively influences cultural behavioural intentions.

• Proposition 8: Place affect positively influences cultural behavioural intentions.

• Proposition 9: Place social bonding positively influences cultural behavioural intentions.

3. The theoretical model

The theoretical model shown in Figure 1 describes a logical flow between the constructs related to cultural tourism consumption in island economies. As evidenced by the literature (e.g. Cateran & Roederer, 2013), authenticity is a central concept in cultural tourism consumption. The model proposes that tourists’ perceived authenticity positively influences their place satisfaction. Drawing from the human attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969) and on empirical evidence from the place attachment literature (e.g. Lee et al., 2012; Ramkissoon & Mavondo, 2014), the model proposes that tourist place satisfaction influences each of the place attachment dimensions (place identity, place dependence, place affect, place social bonding), prompting cultural tourism consumption at these destinations. Place dependence, place identity, place affect, and place social bonding each exerts a positive and direct influence on tourists’ cultural intentions.

Figure 1: Theoretical framework of the study

4. Conclusion

This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge on island economies by developing a conceptual framework proposing theoretical links between authenticity, place satisfaction, the four dimensions of place attachment (place identity, place dependence, place affect, place social bonding), and cultural behavioural intentions for African island states hosting distinctive cultural and natural assets. Borrowing from existing theories in the consumer behaviour and environmental psychology literature, this study offers researchers a framework that is grounded in theory and past research and has the potential to deliver valuable theoretical and practical implications for promoting cultural tourism for islands of the African continent.

With tourists’ quest for distinctive natural and cultural heritage assets (Ramkissoon & Uysal, 2011), determining how to get them strongly attached to African islands’ attributes is of great relevance to African island destination planners and marketers. Tourists can develop affective links, a sense of identity and belongingness, dependence, and social bonding to the cultural and natural elements often unique to such island destinations. Destination marketers and policy-makers of African islands could develop and adopt tourism practices to further market the tourism product with an increased focus on authenticity of the cultural and natural tourist attractions. One recommendation is to liaise with the respective site managers and conduct further research into the different elements of authenticity. This will be valuable in developing and formulating effective strategies, ensuring that tourists develop a strong sense of attachment to the islands’ natural and cultural assets while ascertaining that these elements are congruent with tourists’ perceptions of authenticity, hence promoting cultural tourism consumption.

This study contributes to the comparative lack of studies on authenticity, place satisfaction, place attachment, and tourist cultural tourism consumption in island destinations. The limitation of this study is the lack of empirical evidence. Researchers are encouraged to use structural equation modelling to empirically test the model. This will help managers of African island cultural and natural sites focus on authenticity of the attractions to increase place satisfaction. It would further provide site managers with an understanding of how to foster place attachment. It can help site managers identify the elements of place attachment that are most important in influencing tourists’ cultural behavioural intentions in African island destinations. For instance, site managers could foster place attachment by building on the needs and services of tourists to develop high levels of place dependence. Researchers can also consider extending the framework to include other potential predictors of place satisfaction, place attachment, and cultural behavioural intentions. Inclusion of other determinants may enhance the predictive power of the framework and provide further insights to guide theory and practice.