Title: THE EFFECT OF SELF-TRANSCENDENCE VALUES ON ECOTOURISM DESTINATION IMAGE, PLACE ATTACHMENT, AND INTENTION LOYALTY (A Study of Visitors to Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan – Indonesia)
Author: Marso
Item Type: Thesis (Dissertation)
Abstract
With its continuous growth, tourism has become a very attractive and highly competitive industry for every destination marketing organization to attract visitors. Morgan et al. (2002) revealed that 70% of all tourists only visit major tourism destinations in ten countries known as the “best niche players”, and more than 70% make repeat visits to the same tourism destination (Ellis and Vogelsong, 2002; Chen and Tsai, 2007; Richards, 2006; Chaminuka et al., 2011). This phenomenon shows that a successful tourism destination marketing strategy should not only focus on winning new tourists but must also build the loyalty of tourists who have been won, because loyal tourists will make repeat visits and recommend certain tourism destinations to others (Bigne et al., 2001; Chi, 2005; Chi and Qu, 2008; Prayag, 2008; Tian-Cole et al., 2002; Chen and Tsai, 2007; Han et al., 2011). Ecotourism as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local communities” (TIES, 1990) and emerged along with global environmental issues (Higham, 2007:4) requires a specific marketing strategy to build the loyalty of tourists visiting ecotourism destinations (ecotourists). For this reason, this study integrates the “Value-Attitude Hierarchy” model (Homer and Kahle, 1988) into the “Four-Stage Loyalty Model” (Oliver, 1997) to produce a loyalty model with the pattern “Values Cognitive Affective Conative”. As the main objective of this study, the pattern “Values Cognitive Affective Conative” is empirically tested through four variables that are considered appropriate to the concept of ecotourism, namely: Self-Transcendence Values to represent the Values component, Ecotourism Destination Image to represent Cognitive (Thoughts), and Place Attachment to represent Affective (Feelings), and Intention Loyalty as a proxy for the Conative (Willpower) aspect. In addition to expanding the loyalty model, this study aims to test six hypotheses developed based on theoretical and empirical studies to determine the influence of self-transcendence values on ecotourism destination image, the influence of self-transcendence values on place attachment, the influence of self-transcendence values on intention loyalty, the influence of ecotourism destination image on place attachment, the influence of ecotourism destination image on intention loyalty, the influence of place attachment on intention loyalty, the role of Ecotourism Destination Image in mediating the influence of Self-Transcendence Values on Place Attachment, the role of Place Attachment in mediating the influence of Self-Transcendence Values on Intention Loyalty, and to determine the role of Place Attachment in mediating the influence of Ecotourism Destination Image on Intention Loyalty. The population of this study was all adult tourists, both domestic and foreign tourists who visited TNTP at the time of data collection (May - June 2016), and understood Indonesian or English. Referring to the researcher's experience To produce more accurate path coefficient estimates in PLS-SEM when the coefficient is less than 500 and at least 200 (Hulland et al. in Vinzi et al., 2010:314) and the composition of TNTP visitors (61.20% - 72.60% foreign tourists and 27.40% - 38.80% domestic tourists), the number of questionnaires distributed was 300, consisting of 200 (67%) for foreign tourists and 100 (33%) for domestic tourists. The sampling method for this study was accidental sampling. The number of returned questionnaires was 259 or 86% of the total number of questionnaires distributed. Of the returned questionnaires, only 218 or 84% could be analyzed, while the rest could not be used because the answers were incomplete. Three of the four variables in this study were measured using two dimensions. The Self-Transcendence Values variable was measured using the Universalism and Benevolence dimensions; the Ecotourism Destination Image variable was measured using the Nature and Culture dimensions; and the measurement dimension for the Place Attachment variable was Place Identity. and Place Dependence. The results of the evaluation of the measurement model with SmartPLS 3.0 Professional show that all variables of this study are valid and reliable based on the internal consistency reliability value measured by Cronbach alpha and composite reliability, indicator reliability measured by outer loading value, convergent validity with AVE and discriminant validity with cross loading and AVE root. For this reason, the four study variables were further tested in a structural equation model (SEM). Based on the SEM analysis with SmartPLS 3.0 Professional, the results of this study show that (1) Self-Transcendence Values have a positive and significant effect on Ecotourism Destination Image, (2) Self-Transcendence Values have a positive and significant effect on Place Attachment, (3) Self-Transcendence Values have a significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (4) Ecotourism Destination Image has a positive and significant effect on Place Attachment, (5) Ecotourism Destination Image has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (6) Place Attachment has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (7) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (8) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (9) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (10) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (11) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (12) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (13) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (14) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (15) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (16) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (17) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (18) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, (19) Intention Loyalty has a positive and significant effect on Intention Loyalty, ( Self-Transcendence Values on Place Attachment are mediated by Ecotourism Destination Image, (8) The influence of Self-Transcendence Values on Intention Loyalty is mediated by Place Attachment, (9) The influence of Ecotourism Destination Image on Intention Loyalty is mediated by Place Attachment, and (10) theoretically, the expansion of the loyalty model with the pattern “Values Cognitive Affective Conative” is supported by the data of this study. The first limitation of this study is that this study was conducted in an ecotourism destination setting and one ecotourism destination in order to expand the Four-Stage Loyalty (Oliver, 1997) by integrating the Value-Attitude Hierarchy (Homer and Kahle, 1988), so it is limited to the scope and variables that are in accordance with ecotourism principles to represent the components of values, thoughts (attitude), feelings (affective), and willingness (conative). If this study is expanded to a different tourism segment setting, then the concepts used as proxies for each component It is possible that different results may be obtained. Therefore, further studies can be conducted to identify and compare the values and image of visitors across various tourism segments. Second, this study was conducted on tourists who visited TNTP in May–June 2016. Therefore, the results of this study only apply to tourists who visited TNTP in May–June 2016 and cannot be generalized to TNTP visitors or ecotourism destinations as a whole. This limitation poses a challenge for further studies to re-examine the variables and models developed in this study on a broader scale, encompassing both the location and the ecotourism destination segment. Third, individual values are formed by the environment and life experiences accumulated throughout an individual's life through a relatively long process, making them relatively difficult for marketers to change in a short time. Therefore, the ability of TNTP marketers to adapt offerings to the values of the target market is key to the success of TNTP marketing as an ecotourism destination. Pragmatic suggestions based on the findings of this study are: first, TNTP marketing strategies must be guided by the principles of environmental and biodiversity conservation, sustainability, harmony with other creatures or species, and equality for all. ethnicity, and empowerment of local residents around TNTP, because TNTP visitors are tourists who have very high Self-Transcendence Values, have a strong attachment to TNTP with a very high level of loyalty, and visit ecotourism destinations more than twice a year. Second, to win a very competitive market, TNTP as an ecotourism destination is maintained as a habitat for a variety of flora and fauna, a place with beautiful views, a place that provides opportunities to learn about local culture, a place that provides opportunities to learn about the environment, a place to see wild animals, and a place that is beneficial for nature conservation, because the image of visitors towards the six indicators of TNTP as an ecotourism destination is included in the very high or very appropriate category. Third, the target market of TNTP is tourists who have very high Self-Transcendence Values. Therefore, the ability to manage and communicate TNTP as an ecotourism destination, namely a tourist destination managed in accordance with the principles of Self-Transcendence Values accompanied by the ability to create tourist Place Attachment to TNTP is expected to be able to produce a competitive advantage for TNTP in the global tourism destination market.
Uncontrolled Keywords : SELF-TRANSCENDENCE VALUES, ECOTOURISM DESTINATION IMAGE, PLACE ATTACHMENT, INTENTION LOYALTY, Tanjung Puting National Park