Sympathy and loyalty intention after visitor harassment

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to, first, determine the demographic predictors of the extent a visitor would feel sympathetic after a visitor harassment (VH) episode and, second, to ascertain whether there were any significant connections between a visitor feeling sympathetic after such an episode and his or her loyalty intentions toward the destination.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey research was conducted. Snowballing was used for the online survey and accidental sampling for the paper survey. The data were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression analyses. A total of 634 surveys were analyzed.

Findings

The following were found. First, sympathy was not a common emotion visitors experienced after being harassed by a trader at a tourist destination. Second, the demographic factors age, gender, income and educational levels were not significant predictors of the extent to which visitors would be sympathetic after a VH episode. Sympathy was a significant predictor of visitors’ intention to recommend the destination and support the traders in the future but not of visitors’ intention to return to the destination.

Research limitations/implications

The study was exploratory, and hence, the findings were preliminary.

Practical implications

The findings could lead to “new” local responses to the problem of VH at tourist destinations.

Originality/Value

The study was the first known to look at visitor sympathy after a VH episode.

Citation

Nicely, A. and Armadita, F. (2018), "Sympathy and loyalty intention after visitor harassment", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 47-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-07-2017-0076