Second-Home Owner Attachment to a Destination: a Driver of Tourism Promotion
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2007 Second-home owner attachment to a destination: A driver of tourism promotion John Brumby McLeod University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation McLeod, John Brumby, "Second-home owner attachment to a destination: A driver of tourism promotion" (2007). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2795. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/372f-46eu This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SECOND-HOME OWNER ATTACHMENT TO A DESTINATION: A DRIVER OF TOURISM PROMOTION by John Brumby McLeod Bachelor of Science University of Georgia 1996 Master of Business Administration University of Montana 1999 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Hotel Administration William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2008 UMI Number: 3319135 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3319135 Copyright 2008 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PC Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Dissertation Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas April 17 ■ 20 08 The Dissertation prepared by John Brumby McLeod Entitled Second-Home Owner Attachment to a Destination: A Driver of Tourism Promotion is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Hotel Administration ixaviination Committee Chair r? Dean of the Graduate College Examination Cbmmntee'Manhei Examination Committee Member Graduate Gollege Faculty Representative 1017-52 11 ABSTRACT Second-home Owner Attachment to a Destination: A Driver of Tourism Promotion by John Brumby McLeod Dr. James Busser, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Recreation and Sport Management University of Nevada, Las Vegas Second-homes have become common place in many destinations. The visitation to these homes has become known as second-home tourism. Previous literature suggests that these homeowners might possess traits that would be attractive to tourism planners such as repeat visitation, word-of-mouth promotion, and the hosting of other visitors. The purpose of this study was to explore the presence of these traits in the context of international second-home owners and test a theoretical model that proposes place attachment as a driver of these behaviors. Attachment has been shown as a predictor of visitation and positive word-of-mouth in previous research. Borrowing from the visiting friends and relatives’ literature, a new construct known as hosting is developed and tested in the model. This study expands previous research on place attachment into a cross-cultural context by sampling residents of the United States and Canada that own a second-home in Costa Rica. Using theory and previous research findings, place attachment was 111 proposed as a driver of homeowner visitation, word-of-mouth promotion, and hosting; data were collected and tested for model fit. Findings from the study suggest that the relationship between the dimensions of place attachment (place identity and place dependence) do not support the relationship with visitation. Place dependence and visitation were not supported in model. Place identity was supported as a driver of word-of-mouth promotion and hosting. In addition, word-of-mouth promotion was supported as a driver of hosting. Findings from this study provide insight into the behaviors of second-home owners and utilization of their home. Tourism planners should develop strategies to engage these owners by enriching their experiences at the destination to nourish their attachment. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES....................................................................................................................vii LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................................viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................I Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................6 Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................................................10 Research Questions ...............................................................................................................11 Research Contribution ..........................................................................................................12 Definition of Key Term s ................ 14 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE....................................................... 17 Second Home Studies ............................................................................................................19 Place Attachment ..................................................................................................................27 V isitation ................................................................................................................................ 30 Word-of-Mouth ..................................................................................................................... 33 H osting ....................................................................................................................................37 Hypothesized Model .............................................................................................................39 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................42 Study S etting..........................................................................................................................42 Sampling and Data Collection ............................................................................................44 Questionnaire Development ................................................................................................ 48 Operational Definitions of the Variables ............................................................................49 Data Analysis M ethod .......................................................... 54 CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS............................................................................................ 57 Preliminary Scale Tests ......................................................................................................... 58 Data Collection and Sampling ............................................................................................. 65 Comparison of the Data Sets ................................................................................................ 69 Sample Characteristics .......................................................................................................... 72 Scale Reliability and Validity ............................................................................................. 82 The Proposed M odel .............................................................................................................88 Assumptions of SEM ........................................................................................................... 89 Model Estimation .......................................................................... 98 The Measurement Model ................................................................................................... 101 The Structural Model ..........................................................................................................104 Goodness-of-Fit Indices ..................................................................................................... 104 Model Modification ............................................................................................................109 CHAPTER