Investigating the psychological mechanisms that drive tourists’ citizenship behaviour at the destination

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the effect of destination psychological ownership (DPO) on tourist citizenship behaviour (TCB) and determine the role of destination attachment as a mediator in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was applied, with primary data acquired through the intercept survey method on a sample of 323 tourists from two famous tourism destinations in India. The hypothesis in this study was tested using the partial least squares (PLS) method. Findings The findings reveal that tourists’ perceived control, knowledge and self-investment at the destination positively influence destination psychological ownership, which in turn affects tourist citizenship behaviour. In addition, destination psychological ownership affects destination attachment, which in turn affects tourist citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, the results also show that tourist citizenship behaviour and destination psychological ownership are mediated by destination attachment outcomes. In other words, destination attachment serves as a bridge between behaving as a responsible tourist and feeling like they “own” or belong to the destination. Research limitations/implications Destination administrators need to prioritize tourists as the destination’s psychological owners. They must provide opportunities for tourists to take part in decisions, self-invest and increase their knowledge, belongingness experience and identity in tourism destinations, which can help increase their destination psychological ownership. In Addition, they can enhance destination services to increase tourist destination attachment. Originality/value The uniqueness of this research lies in connecting destination psychological ownership with its antecedents and outcomes as tourist citizenship behaviour. The model indicates that increasing tourists’ psychological ownership of a destination can provide enormous benefits to tourism destinations.