The Influence of Social Capital on Farmers’ Tourism Livelihood Willingness—A Study on Goulanyao Village

Abstract

Based on social capital theory, semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers in Goulanyao Village, and content analysis was used to sort out the social capital status of local farmers and how social capital shaped their tourism livelihood willingness. The results show that farmers affect their tourism livelihood willingness through four paths: the social network path, social norm path, social trust path, and cultural identity path. The mutual promotion and restriction relationship between the social network path, social norm path, and social trust path leads to the gradient difference in farmers’ own social capital perception. Social capital and cultural identity jointly affect and determine the four modes of farmers’ tourism livelihood willingness: rapid acceptance, hesitant acceptance, hesitant rejection, and rapid rejection. The research results supplement the achievements of social capital in rural tourism research and provide a reference for promoting farmers’ tourism livelihood willingness and livelihood diversification.