How perceived empowerment and place attachment drive residents’ support for sustainable tourism in central Vietnam: a serial mediation model

Abstract

From the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S–O–R) framework, this study proposes a serial mediation model to examine psychological drivers of residents’ support for sustainable tourism development (STD) in central Vietnam. Specifically, this study investigates how perceived empowerment and place attachment as stimulus influence residents’ attitudes (ATT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) as organism, which in turn shape their intentions to support STD as response. The study empirically surveyed 686 residents engaging with tourism services in three cities, namely Hue, Da Nang, and Quang Nam, in central Vietnam. This study utilised both online and paper-based approaches. The sample includes residents who are working in or providing tourism-related services at local destinations. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the conceptual model and research hypotheses. This study confirms a serial mediation model wherein perceived empowerment and place attachment influence residents’ intentions to support STD through various pathways from SN, PBC, and ATT. Theoretically, the study explains the mechanism under which psychological drivers (i.e. perceived empowerment and place attachment) influence residents’ intentions to support STD. Moreover, this study pioneers in extending TPB with S–O–R in the STD literature. Practically, the study proposes two systematic pathways for destination practitioners to engage residents with local STD initiatives while demonstrating their applications to three sample cities (e.g. Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam