How does experienced compassion influence community citizenship behaviour? The roles of psychological contracts and regulatory focus

Abstract

This research conceptualises residents’ community citizenship behaviour (CCB) in a tourist destination through two dimensions: community citizenship behaviour directed towards tourism (CCBT) and community citizenship behaviour directed towards individuals (CCBI). Specifically, this research empirically examines the impacts of experienced compassion on both types of CCB, the mediating effects of relational contracts and transactional contracts, and the moderating role of regulatory focus. In brief, 564 residents in Sanya, China were approached in order to test the relationship among experienced compassion, psychological contracts, and CCB using cluster random sampling. An additional 343 participants were recruited online to complete a randomised experiment to establish causal inferences and to test the moderating mediation model. Results showed that experienced compassion can directly influence CCB. Experienced compassion can also indirectly impact CCB via psychological contracts. A promotion focus (vs. a prevention focus) amplified the mediating role of psychological contracts. Findings provide a fresh perspective on tourism support and offer actionable suggestions for destination managers and marketers.

Keywords:

• Experienced compassion
• psychological contracts
• community citizenship behaviour
• tourism communities
• regulatory focus

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72262012, 71962006) and the Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (722RC633).

Notes on contributors

Xing’an Xu

Dr. Xing’an Xu is a professor at Tourism College, Hainan University, China. Dr. Xu studies tourist psychology, tourist behavior, and tourism planning.

Kaini Xue

Kai’ni Xue is a Ph.D. student at Tourism and Service Management College, Nankai University, China. Her research focuses on tourist behavior and tourist psychology.

Dogan Gursoy

Dr. Dogan Gursoy is a Distinguished Professor at Hospitality Business Management College, Washington State University, USA. His research interest focuses on service management, hospitality and tourism management, tourist behavior, travelers’ information search behavior, community support for tourism development, cross-cultural studies, consumer behavior, involvement and generational leadership.