How social capital affects support intention: The mediating role of place identity

Abstract

The economic, cultural, political, and social benefits of festival tourism for local communities are gaining increasing recognition. However, determining the means of creating a long-running community festival remains a key issue. To fill this gap, this study applied the cognition-affect-behavior model to identify the relationships among social capital, place identity, and support intention for festival tourism. Specifically, we sought to determine the influence of community residents’ social capital on their support intention as well as the mediating role of place identity. To test this model, we examined resident opinions of the Kaohsiung Zuoying Wannian Folklore Festival. Data collected from 500 residents was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Our results indicate that social trust directly affects place identity, which is also influenced by social norms and networks. Furthermore, we found that place identity is a key indicator of support intention. Our analysis also supports the hypothesis that place identity mediates the effect of social capital on support intention. These findings have important theoretical and managerial implications, which we outline in our discussion.