Rethinking residents’ support for sustainable tourism development: integrating social exchange theory and environmental concern

Abstract

This study argues that local communities’ support for sustainable tourism development cannot be explained solely by the perceived benefit–cost balance, and aims to extend Social Change Theory (SET) from an environmental concern perspective. In the existing literature, local community support is largely based on rational assessments; however, the explanatory power of this approach remains limited, particularly in destinations with high environmental concern. Accordingly, this study examines the mediating role of environmental concern in the relationship between perceived tourism impacts and support for tourism development (STD), thereby testing the conditional nature of such support. Research data were collected via a structured survey from local residents (n = 414) in Rize, one of Turkey’s environmentally sensitive destinations, and the proposed theoretical model was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings indicate that perceived personal benefits and the positive effects of tourism significantly increase local residents’ satisfaction and their STD. In contrast, it was determined that perceived negative impacts do not directly reduce support; rather, this relationship emerges indirectly through environmental concern. These results reveal that local community support is not an automatic response but a conditional process shaped within the framework of environmental values and sustainability conditions. The study re-evaluates the explanatory power of SET through a mechanism that incorporates environmental concern and offers a more comprehensive framework for understanding local community behavior in the context of sustainable tourism. The findings highlight the decisive role of incorporating environmental sensitivities in tourism planning on local support, providing important implications for policymakers.