Predictors of Behavioral Loyalty Among Hikers Along the Appalachian Trail
- 1 January 2004
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Leisure Sciences
- Vol. 26 (1), 99-118
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400490272675
Abstract
In recent years, conceptual and empirical papers have begun to appear in the leisure literature examining the processes leading to the formation of recreationist loyalty. While this work is still in its infancy, current understanding suggests that leisure involvement plays a formative role in the development of social psychological commitment, which in turn, is an antecedent to loyalty to a brand or organization. In the context of natural resource-based recreation the concept of loyalty is most often used to refer to recreationists' attachments to specific recreation areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical examination of the first order structural relations among involvement (i.e., Centrality, Attraction, Self Expression), commitment (i.e., Social Investment, Financial Investment, Position Involvement, Informational Complexity, Volitional Choice), resistance to change (i.e., Activity Resistance, Place Resistance) and behavioral loyalty for hikers along the Appalachian Trail. These data provided partial support of our hypothesized model. The strength of the structural models varied and not all predictors were significant. Also, the valence of the dimensional relations varied. These data highlight several measurement related issues relating to each of the constructs modeled. These measurement issues inhibit progress toward a fuller understanding of the relationships between each of the constructs and their dimensions.This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- Multimodal Flow Visualization and Optimization of Pneumatic Blood Pump for Sorbent Hemodialysis SystemArtificial Organs, 2009
- Level of Specialization and Place Attachment: An Exploratory Study of Whitewater RecreationistsLeisure Sciences, 2000
- Toward a relational understanding of leisure social worlds, involvement, psychological commitment, and behavioral loyaltyLeisure Sciences, 1998
- Attachments to recreation settings: The case of rail‐trail usersLeisure Sciences, 1994
- Beyond the commodity metaphor: Examining emotional and symbolic attachment to placeLeisure Sciences, 1992
- Recreation specialization reexamined: The case of vehicle‐based campersLeisure Sciences, 1992
- Propositions for testing social exchange theory in the context of ceasing leisure participationLeisure Sciences, 1991
- Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach.Psychological Bulletin, 1988
- Commitment and Social Organization: A Study of Commitment Mechanisms in Utopian CommunitiesAmerican Sociological Review, 1968
- Notes on the Concept of CommitmentAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1960