Understanding residents’ attitudes and behaviors toward value co-creation in tourism at community-based tourism destinations in Vietnam: An application of Human values theory

Abstract

This study investigates how human values influence residents’ supportive attitudes and participatory behaviors in value co-creation in tourism within community-based tourism (CBT) destinations in Vietnam, a highly collectivist context. Drawing on Rokeach’s human values theory and the Value-Attitude-Behavior (VAB) framework, a hybrid design was employed, combining qualitative interviews with quantitative modelling to test their differentiated pathways. Data from 596 residents across five CBT destinations were analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS. Findings reveal that supportive attitudes are the strongest driver of participatory behaviors, with their strength contingent on the activation of distinct human value types. In contrast to individualist societies, Social Terminal Values act as cultural anchors motivating both attitudes and behaviors while Moral and Competence Instrumental Values shape and enable participation through indirect and direct pathways. Symbolic Values remain latent identity markers unless culturally activated. Theoretically, the study extends Rokeach’s Human Values Theory by clarifying how terminal and instrumental values perform context-dependent functions and refines the VAB framework by integrating value types and cultural-activation contingencies into its hierarchy. Practically, it suggests that mobilizing residents for value co-creation requires aligning initiatives with collective values, enhancing competencies through training, and activating symbolic values to foster sustained participation.