A Generalized Approach to Tourist Ethnocentrism (GATE): Analysis of the GenE Scale for Application in Tourism Research

A co-authored article by PhD candidate, Mr. Hermann Kimo Boukamba and CTR researchers, Professor Tatsuo Oi and Associate Professor Kaede Sano has been published in the Journal of Travel Research.

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Title

A Generalized Approach to Tourist Ethnocentrism (GATE): Analysis of the GenE Scale for Application in Tourism Research

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Authors

Hermann Kimo Boukamba, Graduate School of Tourism, Wakayama University, Wakayama, Japan

Tatsuo Oi, Graduate School of Tourism, Wakayama University, Wakayama, Japan

Kaede Sano, Graduate School of Tourism, Wakayama University, Wakayama, Japan

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Source

Journal of Travel Research

Article first published online: January 20, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519895128

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0047287519895128

*Indexed in Scopus

Journal details: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/14813

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Abstract

The tourism phenomenon essentially entails a quest and encounter with the otherness, which are often articulated in the traveler¡¯s involvement with worlds, values, and lives of those inhabiting other cultures. Tourists however, as ordinary people, are not immune to intergroup biases, which constitute important behavioral determinants. Drawing on seminal accounts from intercultural communication, marketing, and psychology, the authors propose a Generalized Approach to Tourist Ethnocentrism (GATE) which considers biased perceptions toward out-group members and their culture, while moving beyond the traditional scope of the home country¡¯s economy. Additionally, the study explored and modeled the Generalized Ethnocentrism (GenE) scale for application in tourism research. A second data set (n=302) further confirmed the psychometric properties, along with the fit and robustness of the proposed model. The GenE is presented to tourism research as a Type II reflective first-order formative second-order construct, whose causal indicators include cultural bias and personal prejudice. Research implications are discussed.

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Key words

generalized approach to tourist ethnocentrism, intergroup bias, tourist behavior, internal consistency, composite of second-order constructs