游客对目的地的信任:维度及其作用

Tourist Trustworthiness of Destination:Dimension and Its Consequence

近年来,不少旅游目的地存在"失信于民"的现象,典型如"三亚天价海鲜事件",这些现象极大地影响了游客对旅游目的地的信任,并进而影响到其对目的地的旅游体验、目的地的选择,等等。因此,有关游客对目的地信任问题的研究已成为一个迫切而重要的课题。基于此,文章立足于游客对目的地的信任问题,在参考已有旅游信任研究成果的基础上,借鉴社会心理学与营销学中关于人际信任与品牌信任的研究成果,首先探究游客对目的地信任的维度,其次考察其对游客满意度、游客重游意愿与推荐意愿的影响。文章通过对多渠道收集而来的479份实地调查问卷进行分析,发现游客对目的地的信任属于二阶因子结构,其维度包括游客对目的地的感知能力、感知友善与感知正直,进一步分析了3个不同维度对游客满意度、游客重游意愿与推荐意愿的影响。最后,文章对目的地信任形象的建设实践提出了相关建议,并对未来的研究方向进行了讨论。

In recent years, many tourism destinations have lost credibility with tourists; one example would be the astronomical price of seafood in Sanya （Hainan, China）. Such negative phenomena influence a tourist＇ s faith in destinations and have huge impacts on a tourist＇ s experience, satisfaction, and choice of destination. Therefore, studies investigating a tourist＇ s trust in destinations are becoming more important and urgent. Based on available literature, we find that current tourism research has focused on two main areas ; trust placed in tourism agencies and their employees, and the credibility of e-commerce. This includes making on-line hotel reservations; confidence between wholesalers and retailers in B2B （business to business） transactions; on-line product consumption; and IWOM （internet word of mouth） credibility. Hence, when researching trust within tourism, we find that there is little research on destination trust. When branding a tourism destination, it is essential to consider tourist trust in the destination. Therefore, in tourism theory, it is vital to investigate whether the tourist has faith in the destination, and to consider its definition, connotation and dimensions. This article examines destination trust as its main theme. It refers to existing research and investigates brand trust from a social psychology and marketing perspective. It explores the structure of destination trust, and looks at its effects on tourist satisfaction, revisit intention, and willingness to recommend. Our analysis of the survey （ sample size 479, collected from multiple channels） found that the tourist＇ s perception of the trustworthiness of the destination was a second-order dimension, which included three perception dimensions： destination competence; tourist goodwill towards the destination; and tourist trust in the integrity of the destination. This second-order structure was more developed than other competitive structures. This article also discusses the influence of the three dimensions （perceived destination competence, perceived goodwill and perceived destination integrity） on tourist satisfaction, revisit intention and willingness to recommend. Specifically, when the dependent variables are tourist satisfaction and willingness to recommend, all three of the dimensions have significant positive impacts （ perceived destination competence, perceived integrity and perceived goodwill sequentially）. When the dependent variable is revisit intention, perceived competence and perceived integrity have significantly positive influences, but not perceived goodwill. We discuss the reasons behind these different effects. Three practical implications of constructing destination trust are discussed. First, since a tourist＇ s perception of the destination ability was the most important element in the formation of destination trust, a destination should thus focus on ability construction. When both the physical facilities and service abilities are perceived to be good, a tourist gains faith in the destination. Second, during any destination management process, the destination should ensure that it keeps its promises. Only then is it seen as trustworthy. Finally, the destination should work on customer familiarization and enhance its friendliness. Such high levels of destination trust construction should lead to a tourist experiencing goodwill. Goodwill means a destination management organization doing things purely for the benefit of the tourist, rather than through financial motivation. Working on perceived goodwill requires that destination management organizations put tourists first, design products or services from a tourist＇ s perspective, and effectively answer any queries a tourist may have. Finally, the article discusses the limitations of current research and future research directions beneficial to the theoretic advancement of tourist trust.