Resumo

In the tourism environment, consumers often interact with each other, voluntarily contributing to the general well-being and services development without expecting rewards. Such behavior is known as Consumer Citizenship Behavior (CCB) (Groth, 2005), in which consumers become operational resources within the service chain (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). The increasing relevance of this phenomenon has led academics and practitioners to look closely at the interactional and situational dynamics that permeate consumer participation in value creation (e.g., Choi & Lotz, 2016).

Our research problem is “What are the key factors that drive consumer citizenship behavior in the tourism service encounter, wherein interactions and conviviality among consumers occur?”. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Social Identity Theory (SIT), we address the need for studies that bridge tourism contexts and citizenship behaviors due to tour services’ singular nature and characterizations by suggesting that group identification, consumer-company identification, and self-efficacy play relevant roles on tourist citizenship behaviors.

Consumer Citizenship Behavior (CCB) is defined as voluntary and discretionary behaviors that are not necessary, but indirectly benefit the organization (Groth, 2005). In the literature, self-efficacy is taken as an important driver of CCB, as consumers will be more prone to engage if they believe they are able to perform on the action. Relying on social exchange and social identity theories, in the tourism context, we argue that group identification (GI) and company identification (CI) are important mechanisms that explain the relationship between self-efficacy and CCB.

We did a survey, collecting responses of 138 young Brazilians from 17 to 24 years old who had consumed tourist packages in the last three years. Data were analyzed using the PLS-SEM technique.

Our results indicate a full mediation of group identification and consumer company identification in the relationship between self-efficacy and consumer citizenship behavior. Self-efficacy is positively related to both consumer identification processes due to the greater belief that when performing a particular action, it will be relevant for the development of the trip, the group, and the company. Among the antecedents, consumer-company identification had the most significant effect among those tested, followed by group identification.

The research objective was achieved, as the structural paths were all considered significantly positive. Considering the touristic environment as favorable for interaction between consumers, the potential for exploitation of the CCB is conceived. In situations where the purposes of consumers are aligned with each other and those of the company, the CCB is a positive trend for the adopting company, extolling the efficiency, functionality, and fidelity of the service, making the environment more harmonious and pleasant (Liu & Tsaur 2014).

Choi, L., & Lotz, S. (2016). Motivations leading to customer citizenship behavior in services: scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 33(7), 539-551. Groth, M. (2005). Customers as good soldiers: Examining citizenship behaviors in internet service deliveries. Journal of Management, 31(1), 7-27. Liu, J. S., & Tsaur, S. H. (2014). We are in the same boat: Tourist citizenship behaviors. Tourism Management, 42, 88-100.