The Role of Guanxi in Chinese Tourists' Destination Loyalty

Abstract

The theory of guanxi, coming from the work in Chinese psychology, has been widely applied in marketing and management academy. Although tourism scholars have paid considerable attention to Chinese tourists, the use of Chinese psychology in explaining the market remains limited. The purpose of this study is to apply guanxi in explaining Chinese tourists' destination loyalty using Taiwan as a case study of a tourist destination. Based on the guanxi theory, the study results showed that cognitive image, affective image, and perceived value exerted positive influences on destination loyalty. Further, sentiment, one dimension of cognitive image, appears to play a determining role for Mainland Chinese tourists to establish guanxi with Taiwan.