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attitudes. Contemporary thinking about attitudes
suggests that there are linked sets of attitudes on
key topics �such as health, politics, sexuality or
tourism development). These linked attitudes have
been termed `social representations'. In order to
understand attitudes to a specific topic such as
tourism development, it is often useful to understand
people's network of attitudes or the social
representation of the whole issue and to assess
people's social identity or group membership,
since social forces are important determinants of
why people hold attitudes.
Current attitude change theories propose that
there are two different ways in which people can
process information to create or change attitudes:
either through a central route, which is also
referred to as systematic processing, or through a
peripheral route, sometimes known as heuristic
processing. When peripheral processing is at work,
people use very little of the available information
and they employ short cuts and familiar routines to
guide behaviour. In central processing, people
carefully examine and analyse much of the
available information. Attitudes developed through
systematic processing are likely to be more detailed,
more consistently related to behaviour and harder
to change than those adopted through a peripheral
route. Peripheral processing is illustrated by tourists
accepting stereotypic clicheÂd views of the visited
hosts and holding attitudes towards them which are
largely influenced by media and external sources
rather than by a thoughtful consideration of the
actual contact experiences. Research on mindfulness
is also linked to this approach, with the
concept of mindfulness referring to a central
processing route and that of mindlessness characterising
the peripheral or heuristic approach.
In assessing attitudes, it is valuable to use a
number of control groups or baseline measures in
field studies since the very process of researching
attitudes and trying to monitor their change can
influence the investigation. Attitudes are traditionally
measured on five to seven-point rating scales
with ranges such as `strongly agree' to `strongly
disagree'. In evaluating attitude research, it is
usually insightful to ask both the direction
�evaluative) component of the attitude and the
importance of holding that attitude on the topic to
the individual.
There are frequent comments in the literature
that attitudes do not form a close link to actual
behaviour. There are several reasons why such
inconsistencies might exist. It may be that the
questions asked to elicit attitudes were not
sufficiently specific. Additionally, if the topic is of
little relevance to the individual, the respondent
may express an attitude which has few immediate
behavioural consequences. It is notable that
negative attitudes are often more detailed and
well-organised and are likely to have been subject
to central or systematic processing. Much existing
tourism consumer research has been cast within a
loose attitudinal framework, as have studies relating
to the recreational use of the environment.
These studies could be enhanced by closer
attention to contemporary advances in attitude
theory and measurement. Several studies of
tourists' post-return attitude changes have been
reported. In these studies group package tourists
were shown to change their attitudes as a
consequence of the actual experience. When
favourable holidays took place and initial predeparture
attitudes were positive, even more
positive attitudes were acquired. Less satisfactory
holiday experiences and moderate pre-trip state of
mind resulted in some negative attitudes to host
cultures.
See also: community attitude
Further reading
Chaiken, S. and Stangor, C. �1987) Àttitudes and
attitude change', Annual Review of Psychology 38:
575±630.
Pearce, P.L. �1982) The Social Psychology of Tourist
Behaviour, Oxford: Pergamon.
Pearce, P.L., Moscardo, G.M. and Ross, G.F. �1996)
Tourism Community Relationships, Oxford: Elsevier.
Ryan, C. �1995) Assessing Tourist Satisfaction, London:
Routledge.
attraction
attraction 35
PHILIP L. PEARCE, AUSTRALIA
Attractions are more than just a site or an event;
they are an integral part of a larger tourism system