Residents’ Support for Sustainable Tourism Development: The Mediating Role of Life Satisfaction: An Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether residents’ perceptions affected their life satisfaction and support towards sustainable tourism development in three small islands in Central Vietnam. Besides, this study also examined whether residents’ life satisfaction mediated the impact of their perceptions on support for sustainable tourism development. The data have been directly collected from the residents in three small islands located in Central Vietnam. The questionnaire was established based on the previous research, using a 5-point Likert scale. 400 questionnaires were distributed, and 332 responses were usable for data analysis. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 22 and AMOS 22. This study used a quantitative research method in order to examine the relationships among constructs. Specifically, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in this research.

As a result, residents’ positive perceptions had a positive impact on life satisfaction and residents’ negative perceptions did not exert an influence over their life satisfaction. Moreover, it was found that residents’ support for tourism development was positively related to their negative and positive perceptions. There was also a positive relationship between residents’ satisfaction with life and their support for tourism development. In addition, the findings indicated that life satisfaction partially mediated the impact of positive perceptions on support towards tourism development, and there was no mediating effect of satisfaction with life on the relationship between residents’ negative perceptions and their support towards tourism development. In line with the use of the social exchange theory, this research has given important contributions to residents’ perceptions, life satisfaction, and support for tourism development literature. Furthermore, from the results found in this research, the local authorities of three islands in Central Vietnam have some practical implications to develop sustainable tourism.