Rural tourism development between community involvement and residents' life satisfaction: tourism agenda 2030

Purpose Aiming to investigate the direct and indirect effects of community involvement on residents' life satisfaction, this study builds a conceptual framework through the mediation effect of perceived impacts and trust in government based on social exchange theory. The moderating effect of place attachment among these variables is proposed and empirically examined. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual model and causal relationships were estimated by adopting structural equation modeling, a serial mediation and moderation analysis. A total of 362 valid questionnaire data from residents in five rural tourism communities of China were collected and used for data analysis. Findings The results indicate that residents' community involvement directly influences their life satisfaction and indirectly through perceived benefits and trust in government. Place attachment is also found to moderate the effect of community involvement on residents' life satisfaction. Originality/value This study tests the effect of community involvement on residents' life satisfaction that evolves from linking community involvement to perceived tourism impacts and trust in government to increase life satisfaction within the rural tourism context. It simultaneously detects place attachment as a moderating variable. The findings of this study can provide valuable insights for rural tourism managers to improve residents' life satisfaction.