This study proposes a model to investigate the relationship between residents’ perception of tourism’s impact on their quality of life (QoL) and their emotional solidarity toward tourists. The social ...exchange theory was used as a framework to explain the relationship, and structural equation modeling to assess the hypothesized model. Data for this study were obtained from survey responses of 407 residents in Macau, China, characterized by an intense tourism activity in a small territory. Results indicate that residents’ perception of tourism’s impact on four life domains (material, community, emotional, and health and safety) influences their satisfaction with the corresponding life domains. However, these domains only partially contribute to their overall satisfaction with QoL. Moreover, overall satisfaction with QoL revealed to be a significant predictor of residents’ emotional solidarity toward tourists. The findings indicate the importance of considering QoL in examining residents’ attitudes toward tourists. Implications and opportunities for further research are proposed.
Research on residents’ attitude towards tourism development has been under way for many years. Few studies, however, have investigated the relationship between residents’ perception of their quality ...of life (QoL) and their emotional solidarity towards tourists. The primary goal of this study was to address the hypotheses that, 1) residents’ perception of tourism’s impact on QoL is positively correlated to their satisfaction with QoL, and 2) such QoL construct is also positively correlated with their emotional solidarity towards tourists. The concept of social exchange theory (SET) was applied to explain the relationships. This study involved a survey of residents’ attitude in Macau, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) located on the southeastern coast of China. All hypotheses were supported by the results of a correlation analysis, which revealed that residents who perceived more positive impact from tourism on QoL, were more satisfied with QoL, and had a higher degree of emotional solidarity towards tourists. The findings indicated the importance to consider QoL in examining residents’ attitude towards tourists. Furthermore, both theoretical and practical implications were discussed, limitation and future research directions were also provided.
