Consumer engagement in village eco-tourism: A case of the cleanest village in Asia – Mawlynnong

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study examines the unique role of local community–consumer/customer engagement in influencing consumer/customer satisfaction (reflected in terms of economic activity) and future behavioural intention (reflected in terms of tourism develop-ment) in eco-tourism context in Mawlynnong village, Meghalaya,India, which has rightfully earned for itself the title of “Cleanest village in Asia.” The study builds on the contents and data from 35 in-depth researches on tourism (in the context of Mawlynnong) with the help of a content analysis (using NVivo 12) method and interaction with 8 local village families followed by structural equation modelling(SEM) analysis (using Adanco 2.0.2).The results show that factors such as cleanliness, local community–consumer/customer engagement, infrastructure, heritage and education enhance perceived trust among tourists, resulting in tourism development and enhanced economic activity by tourists. The participative service innovation behaviour (cleanliness) positively influences exploration intention(tourism) in this context. Furthermore, participative service innovation behaviour (in cleanliness) is found to mediate the relationship between its two driving factors, namely local community engagement and perceived trust in the service provider(tourism). The findings also provide various strategies tourism and hospitality firms and government tourism departments can use to prioritize factors and co-creating a replicable model of service innovation effectively using Mawlynnong example.