How does place attachment affect word-of-mouth?: Evidence from a street with emerging cafes

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the relationship between place attachment, place satisfaction and word-of-mouth communication. The context of the study is a street with emerging cafes in a small city that serves as the most important alternative for locals and visitors to spend their leisure. The data obtained from 443 individuals who participated in the survey were tested through PLS-SEM. The findings indicate that place dependence, place affect, and place social bonding directly influence place satisfaction, which is an important antecedent of word-of-mouth communication. These dimensions of place attachment indirectly affect the word-of-mouth communications of individuals, whereas place identity does not have a direct or indirect effect. Within this context, indirect-only mediation and complementary mediation roles of place satisfaction were discovered. These findings are discussed within the context of the study, and both theoretical and practical contributions are introduced.