Residents’ attitudes towards casinos: the role of positive experiences
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Data
2016-06-26
Autores
Marques, Carlos Peixeira
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Grácio Editores
Resumo
Social exchange theory (SET) has been the most prominent theory used to assess residents’ attitudes towards tourism development, having been successfully applied to studies of community support for casino operation and development. According to SET, residents have favorable or unfavorable attitudes to tourism and/or casino development depending on how they evaluate the benefits and costs of the industry to the community. The present study departs from the previous literature by considering that, beyond beliefs about benefits and costs, residents’ emotions regarding their direct experiences with casinos can determine their attitudes and support levels. The conceptual model was tested by surveying a quota sample of 300 adults living in a city in northern Portugal, where a casino was set up about six years before the survey. A subsample of 224 residents who had directly experienced the casino was considered in the data analysis. Respondents’ data were measured in terms of beliefs about casino impacts, recalled affective reactions to casino experiences, attitudes towards the casino, and intention to recommend it to residents and visitors. The results show that perceived benefits and positive experiences have moderate positive effects on attitudes, while perceived costs and negative experiences have only weak negative effects. The main contribution of this paper is to point out that affective outcomes from residents’ experiences with tourism facilities influence their attitudes regarding the industry’s contribution to the community.
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Casino , Residents’ Attitudes , Social Exchange Theory