Author: Chiu, Wai Ling Winnie
Title: The effects of animosity, tourist ethnocentrism and national identity on country image : a study of intention to visit Mainland China among Hong Kong residents
Advisors: Schuckert, Markus (SHTM)
Degree: DHTM
Year: 2019
Subject: Tourism -- Social aspects
Tourism -- China
Tourists -- China -- Hong Kong
Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations
Department: School of Hotel and Tourism Management
Pages: x, 191 pages : color illustration
Language: English
Abstract: Before 1997, Hong Kong was British colony with an East-meet-West cosmopolitan culture. After the handover to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997, Hong Kong became part of China, and is living through political and socio-cultural changes, including a salient discussion associated with national identity. Some Hongkongers re-oriented their social identity towards China after the reunion with China while others had mixed feelings towards Chinese tourists and China itself. In light of that, this study works towards a conceptual model that investigates the influence of animosity, tourist ethnocentrism, and national identity on affective country image, cognitive country image, and intention to visit the country. Addressing the related research gap, the proposed framework, by applying the animosity model in tourism industry, highlights the effect of various types of animosity on cognitive and affective country image, and its effects on local residents' intention to visit a given country. Analysing the distance between Hong Kong and China provides an opportunity to make an original contribution that examines animosity effects on residents' perception towards cognitive and affective country image, residents' national identity and the impact of residents' perception of country image on their travel behavioural intentions. A quantitative research design was adopted, using a structured and self-administrated questionnaire based on a purposive sampling method. A total of 535 valid questionnaires obtained in Hong Kong between March and July 2018 were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. The study found that economic animosity has no significant influences on cognitive and affective country image, and the intention to visit mainland China. As proposed, socio-political animosity and regional animosity have negative influences on cognitive country image, while tourist ethnocentrism and national identity have a positive relationship with cognitive country image. The results of this study also indicated that regional animosity has negative effects on affective country image, while national identity positively affects affective country image. It is interesting to note that only people animosity negatively influences intention to visit a particular destination, whereas economic, socio-political, and regional animosities have no significant effect on intention to visit the country. Finally, cognitive country image and affective country image have a positive relationship with intention to visit the country. The findings revealed various undiscovered patterns in relation to the interplay of animosity, tourist ethnocentrism, and national identity on country image and intention to visit. The discussion and implications of this study will provide an important opportunity to advance the understanding of Hong Kong-China relationship in the context of tourism development and destination marketing. The results are expected to provide some insights for policy makers and marketing practitioners who may plan and implement strategies to reinforce mutual trust and facilitate bilateral travel between Hong Kong and China in the long run.
Rights: All rights reserved
Access: restricted access

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