Exploring the Impact of Group Tourists’ Citizenship Behavior on Engagement: The Intimacy as a Mediating Variable

Abstract

Tourist engagement not only yields advantages for the destination but also holds significance within the realm of group travel. In this context, if tour guides are able to leverage tourist citizenship behaviors (TCB) to augment interactivity and participation, tourists can essentially transform into “tour guide assistants”. To this end, the study introduces intimacy as a mediating variable, aiming to investigate the influence of TCB on engagement levels among group tourists. The subjects were Taiwanese tourists who had engaged in outbound group tourism for more than five days within three years. A total of 436 online questionnaires were collected by convenience sampling and analyzed in LISREL and SPSS 21.0. The research results: 1. TCB significantly positively affects intimacy and engagement; 2. Intimacy is a mediating variable between TCB and engagement. 3. Different levels of TCB have significant differences in intimacy and engagement. The research results can help tour guides and travel agency operators know the characteristics of group tourists and improve the experience of group tour tourists.