The Effect of Identity Salience on Residents’ Engagement with Place Branding during and Post COVID-19 Pandemic

It is critical for tourism managers and marketers to understand how to support the sustainable recovery of the industry by involving residents in tourism marketing. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic, as an environmental stimulus, could enhance the salience of residents’ collective identity, thereby increasing their engagement with place branding. A conceptual framework was developed to explore the role of relationship-inducing factors and non-relationship-inducing factors in activating residents’ collective identity based on the social identity salience theory of relationship marketing success. The research model was tested using data from 603 questionnaires collected from Sanya, China, during the period of a sudden COVID-19-related crisis. The findings from the statistical analyses showed significant relationships among the research variables, and the moderating role of perceived social connectedness was supported. Our findings have implications regarding how to engage residents in the tourism recovery process during and post the COVID-19 pandemic.