When Guests Become Hosts: The Boomerang Effect of Tourists’ Negative Behaviors on Their Country of Origin

Abstract

Tourists are commonly regarded as ambassadors shaping their country’s image in international tourism. However, the role of the boomerang effect for outbound tourists on their country of origin is often overlooked in theory and practice. Through four studies, this groundbreaking research explores the boomerang effect of tourists’ negative behaviors on their home countries, encompassing the impact on tourism imports and subsequent spillover effects on manufacturing product exports. The findings reveal that tourists’ negative behaviors not only diminish the willingness of destination residents to visit the tourist-originating country by influencing perceived warmth and psychological distance but also decrease their intention to purchase manufactured products from the country of origin by amplifying psychological distance. Importantly, the moderating effect of product added value in spillover effects is highlighted. These conclusions expand the influence of tourists’ negative behaviors and innovatively bridge theoretical perspectives between the tourism and manufacturing industries on the reverse country-of-origin effects.