Linking Culture and the Environment

246 The Attitudes of Community Residents Towards Tourism
base for many of the studies has been social exchange theory. Some of the first
researchers to use social exchange theory include Allen et al. (1993), Ap et al.
(1991) and Perdue et al. (1987, 1990). More recently, social exchange theory has
been utilized by Andereck et al. (2005), Gursoy et al. (2002) and McGehee and
Andereck (2004). As described by Ap (1992, p. 668), social exchange theory is
‘a general sociological theory concerned with understanding the exchange of
resources between individuals and groups in an interaction situation’. The
tourism industry in any form consists of exchanges between and among individuals,
various stakeholder groups and organizations (governmental, private
and corporate). Residents must develop and promote tourism, and then
serve the needs of the tourists. Some community residents reap the benefits of
tourism, while others may be negatively impacted. Social exchange theory
suggests people evaluate an exchange based on the costs and benefits incurred
as a result of that exchange. An individual that perceives benefits from an
exchange is likely to evaluate that exchange positively; an individual that perceives
costs from an exchange is likely to evaluate that exchange negatively.
Thus, residents who perceive themselves as benefiting from tourism are likely
to view it positively, while residents who perceive themselves as incurring
costs are likely to view tourism negatively. There has been mixed support for
social exchange theory in the tourism literature. Some studies have found
support for the theory while others have not been conclusive (Ap, 1992;
Jurowski et al., 1997; Gursoy et al., 2002).
Importantly, the majority of studies have shown that residents who are
dependent on the tourism industry, or perceive a greater level of economic
gain, tend to have a more positive perception of tourism than other residents
(Haralambopoulos and Pizam, 1996; Jurowski et al., 1997; Deccio and Baloglu,
2002; Sirakaya et al., 2002). Studies have found residents who perceive greater
levels of personal benefit from tourism express more positive attitudes
towards tourism and are more supportive of tourism development than
those who do not feel they receive tourism’s benefits (Perdue et al., 1990;
Jurowski et al., 1997; McGehee and Andereck, 2004; Andereck et al., 2005).
When residents are categorized into those who are directly economically
dependent on tourism and those who are not, it becomes evident that the
former perceive the tourism industry in a more positive light (Liu et al., 1987;
Haralambopoulos and Pizam, 1996). Residents who themselves or who have
family employed in the tourism industry tend to have more positive perceptions
of tourism’s impact than other residents (Jurowski et al., 1997; Brunt
and Courtney, 1999; Deccio and Baloglu, 2002; Sirakaya et al., 2002). Lindberg
and Johnson (1997) report that people who place a greater amount of importance
on economic development have more positive attitudes towards tourism
than those who do not. There is also evidence that those who feel they
receive tourism’s benefits are also aware of some of the negative impacts of
tourism (King et al., 1993; Snepenger et al., 2001).
Similarly, resident attitudes towards tourism are often found to be related
to involvement with the tourism industry. Residents who feel they are knowledgeable
about tourism, as well as those who are more involved in tourism
decision making, are often more positively inclined towards the industry