The Effects of Local Residents’ Emotional Labor on Tourists’ Satisfaction—The Mediating Role of Tourism Experience

Abstract

To explore how local residents’ attitudes and action influence tourists’ satisfaction which in turn influences tourism destination’s brand image, the paper conducts a questionnaire survey among 166 tourists who visited Yantai, analyzes and tests the relational model through structural equations. The test result shows that residents’ deep acting strategy positively affects tourists’ satisfaction; tourism experience partially mediates the effect of residents’ emotional labor on tourists’ satisfaction. It supplements the antecedent research of tourism experience. Policymakers are suggested to attach great importance to residents’ emotional labor and tourists’ experiential demand.