What determines residents’ commitment to a post-communist city? A moderated mediation analysis
| Date | 08 July 2019 |
| Published date | 08 July 2019 |
| Pages | 52-68 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2018-2065 |
| Author | Laurent Tournois,Chiara Rollero |
What determines residents’commitment
to a post-communist city? A moderated
mediation analysis
Laurent Tournois
Department for Postgraduate Studies, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia, and
Chiara Rollero
University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to investigate how residents’perceptions of the image of their place of living influence their level of commitment toward
it. The mediating role of human place bonds (place attachment and place identity) and the moderating effect of the socio-demographic
characteristics of the host community in this relationship is specifically examined.
Design/methodology/approach –The theoretical direct–indirect–moderation relationships are examined using structural equation modeling and
moderated-mediation or condition process analysis (Hayes and Preacher, 2013). Data were collected from 472 resident s living in Belgrade (Serbia).
Findings –The findings support the contention that place attachment and place identity mediate the relationship between place image and
commitment. The study further shows that the conditional indirect relationship of place image with commitment through place attachment and
place identity is significant for age. Age and place of birth are found to moderate the relationship between place image and place attachment.
Research limitations/implications –A stimulating avenue for future research is to explore the effect of culture (individualist, short-termoriented
and low on power distance vs collectivist, long-term oriented and high on power distance cultures) on model’s relationships as well as on
commitment specifically.
Practical implications –To enhance their residents’commitment, place marketers should focus on two levels of action. The first lever is to assess
how residents perceive the image of the place where they live as it can serve as a strategic outline to explore their level of support and address the
possible negative feelings they may have toward any development project. The second level of action is developing bottom up strategies that are
likely to enhance residents’commitment which aims at transforming residents into active place ambassadors and actor s of the public life of the city.
Originality/value –To the best of authors’knowledge, this study is one of the first in the place branding research domain to examine the role of
human place bonds in the relationship between place image and commitment using mediation, moderation, and moderated-mediation analyses.
Moreover, place branding literature is underdeveloped regarding the current issues most post-communist countries face.
Keywords Place identity, Commitment, Place image, Place attachment, Moderated mediation analysis, Post-communist city
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Brandingplaces[1] in post-communistcountries has become an
imperative for local policy makers, considering its capacity not
only to attract but also to retain residents. Moreover, de-
industrialization, which has resulted in a series of negative
images of negligence, misery and depression, has left East
European towns withlittle alternative but to re-invent their
place image as a prelude to the establishment of a new urban
economy (Hubbard, 1995). Nevertheless, in countries such as
Serbia, the post-communist planning system has never been
perceived favorably, as it involves a combination of confused
decision-making processes and support to “uncontrolled
privatization and wild marketization”(Vujoševi
cet al.,2012,
p. 1717). Moreover, unlike other post-communist countries
such as Polandor the Czech Republic, Serbia’sinhabitants have
faced the dissolution of Yugoslavia, severe political and
economic crises in the 1990s, followed by a civil war,
impoverishment and displacement of almost a million people,
along with delayed institutional and economic reforms. This
situationmay have had substantial psychologicaland behavioral
consequences. Residents may react differently in front of these
transformations of the country with regards, for example, to
both their emotional connections with their place of residence
and theirwillingness to remain in that placein the future.
Place marketers claim that citizens play a crucial role in
legitimizationof place planning and development(Zenker et al.,
2017). This assertion is supported bythe inhabitants’tendency
to adopt protective behavior when facing the changes in their
immediate environment, based on the perceived consequences
of the urban governance strategy (Insch and Walters, 2017).
Thecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalisavailableon
Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
29/1 (2020) 52–68
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-10-2018-2065]
Received 17 October2018
Revised 19 March 2019
13 May 2019
Accepted 17 May 2019
52
Therefore, placemarketing[2] strategies should notmerely aim
at creating a picturesque image exploited by the tourism
industry to enhance the value of the place (Sazhina and
Shafranskaya,2017), but should also identify the criticalfactors
that determine residents’attitude toward their place of living
and particularly their disposition toremain in the place in the
future.
In reference to a place, protective behaviors are oftenrelated
to commitment to the place, which in return positively
influences residents’intention to remain in (or move to) a city
(Zenker and Gollan, 2010;Zenker and Petersen, 2014). The
antecedents and consequences of commitment have been
extensively explored in various fields, such as consumer
psychology, organizational behavior, tourism, urban studies
and place marketing. While prior studies consistentlyindicated
that there is a link between a positive environment image and
place commitment (Ballantyne et al., 2009;Cardinale et al.,
2016;Kyle et al., 2006), the empiricalliterature has left several
questions unanswered. In other words, the relationship
between people and places is far more complex, which leads us
to assume that other variables may play an important role.
Indeed, experiencing place is a multifaceted phenomenon that
encompasses different aspects of people–place bonding and
involves the interplay of affect and emotions, knowledge and
beliefs and perceptions and actions in reference to a place
(Altman and Low, 1992;Rollero, 2013). Scholars have shown
that the relationship betweenpeople and their environment has
two linked but different aspects: an affective dimension, that is
the emotional bond toward places(place attachment), and a
cognitive dimension,related to the cognitions about the self as a
member of a physical space (place identity) (Hernández et al.,
2007;Rollero andDe Piccoli, 2010).
The purpose of the present study is to extend such findings
by considering the influence of place image on place
commitment in a sample of urban residents.This research also
aims at providing a more in-depth and nuanced examinationof
the relationship between individualsandspatial settings, as the
current place-brandingliterature does not consider the possible
mediating role of place attachment and place identity in the
relationship between place image and commitment.As such, it
should add theoretical developments to the place marketing
research domain. In addition, understanding how residents
view their city, the bonds they develop with the place they live
in, and how they shape their propensity to participate in the
community life, may help policy makers develop strategiesthat
enhance residents’well-being and reduce their willingness to
leave. The interest in examining the role of person-placebonds
in a post-communist environment stems from the awareness
that, on a global scale, the individual–placebonds have become
fragile as globalization and increased mobility have threatened
the existence of places, as well as the connections people have
with those who matter to them (Scannell and Gifford, 2010).
While Serbia is a traditional migration area when its own
nationals are concerned (Bobic et al., 2016), economic
difficulties and social stress have resulted in a negative
population growth of its capital city Belgrade (Sykora and
Bouzarowski, 2012), thusquestioning the level of commitment
of its residents.
The conceptual model and development of the hypotheses are
presented in the following section. The theoretical background
borrows from the existing research in place marketing, urban
studies, environmental psychology and tourism management. Next,
the research methods are exposed and the results are elaborated.
The theoretical direct–indirect–moderation relationships are
examined using structural equation modeling and moderated-
mediation or condition process analysis (Hayes and Preacher,
2013). While moderated-mediation analyses have been used in a
limited number of studies (Ramkissoon and Mavondo, 2015;
Tournois and Djeric, 2018), they may reveal the true nature of an
effect “when one grasps the mechanism by which an effect operates
andwhenthateffectexistsandwhenitdoesnot”(Hayes, 2018,
p. 4). The final section discusses the findings in light of the existing
literature and presents the managerial implications of this study as
well as the implications for future research.
Literature review
Place image–place attachment–place identity
relationships
Clouse and Dixit (2017) emphasized inconsistencies in the
concepts and terminology surrounding place image among both
scholars and practitioners. Dichter (1985,p.75)describesimage
as “the total impression an entity makes on the minds of others”
underlining its holistic nature. Rein et al. (1993) adhere to this
view and point that the image of a place is the “sum of beliefs,
ideasandimpressionspeopleholdofit”.ForSelby (2004),the
image of a place is experiential and intersubjective. Um and
Crompton (1990) derived place image from destination’s
perceived tourism attributes and described it as a gestalt or
holistic construct. Unlike tourists, residents have their own
images of the place, emphasizing its multifaceted nature as a
place to live, work, play, learn, a commercial center and a social
hub (Stylidis et al.,2014;seealsoInschand Florek, 2008). Along
this view, place image as destination image would encapsulate
both an attribute-based and a holistic component; consequently,
images of some destinations could be based upon directly
observable features (natural scenery, accommodations,
attractions, price levels), while others could be based on more
intangible characteristics (atmosphere, friendliness, safety)
(Echtner and Ritchie, 2003). Kavaratzis and Kalandides (2015)
went a step further in proposing that place-making elements
(materiality, practices, institutions and representations) and
place-based associations combine and form the place brand in a
dynamic process.
Place attachment can be defined as the affective link that
people establish with specific environments,where they have a
propensity to remain and where they feel comfortable and safe
(Hidalgo and Hernández, 2001). It fosters freedom of
exploration, confidence and affective sensitivity within the
group of inhabitants (Fried, 2000). Research has found that
place attachment is related to the perception of the
environment as a good place to live in: the higher individuals
evaluate features of the physical and social environment, the
higher the likelihoodof attachment to place (Fassio et al., 2013;
Stedman, 2002). Stronger attachment is associated with a
positive place perception in terms of niceness, healthy and
security (Billig, 2006). On the contrary,residents who perceive
more incivilities and physicaldecline in their block, show lower
attachment (Brown et al., 2003). In their influential paper,
Merrilees et al. (2009) showed that city attributes (such is
Commitment to a post-communist city
Laurent Tournois and Chiara Rollero
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 29 · Number 1 · 2020 · 52–68
53
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