The Relationship between Endurance Involvement and Travel Behavior in Camping and the Moderating Effect of Place Attachment

Abstract

Camping tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry. Global trends in camping show that this type of recreational activity has begun to emerge in Asia. Meeting the expectations of potential and current tourists in a camping destination will lead to the accomplishment of competitive advantage. The endurance involvement and place attachment play important roles in understanding camping behaviors. However, limited research identified place attachment as a moderator of the influence of endurance involvement on camping travel behavior. To fill this gap, based on place attachment theory, our study developed a conceptual model that postulates endurance involvement and place attachment as predictors of camping tourism. 216 self-administered questionnaires were retuned. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the psychometric properties of the measures, while regression analysis was employed to assess the research hypotheses. The study results show that endurance involvement in camping affects camping travel behavior, whereas camping place dependence, camping place identity, and camping affective attachment moderate the effect of camping endurance involvement on camping travel behavior. Camping place attachment strengthens the relationship between camping endurance involvement and camping travel behavior. To maintain the sustainable development of camping tourism, campsite authorities should attach more importance to strengthening campers’ emotional bonds and concentrate on how to encourage them to participate in tourism activities. The findings have several theoretical and managerial implications for camping tourism marketing and the development of campground.