Land acquisition in rural tourism destinations: How social relations influence cooperative behaviours?

Abstract

AbstractLand acquisition is becoming prevalent in most rural destinations. This study investigates the dynamic interaction process between rural residents regarding tourism‐led land acquisition and analyses how social relations influence cooperative behaviours by using social network analysis. The findings suggest that informal social relations between rural residents transmit influence and information, generating significantly positive impacts on individuals' land acquisition decisions. The multiple regression‐quadratic assignment procedure results further show that residential ties and political ties positively relate to the second land acquisition decision and that dynamic changes in formal political relations significantly facilitate the cooperative behaviour of rural residents. Our study suggests that building diverse social linkages between local governments and rural residents is conducive to promoting cooperation, shedding light on rural cooperative behaviours and sustainable tourism development.