City ambassadorship and citizenship behaviours: Modelling resident behaviours that help cities grow

Abstract

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study residents’ ambassadorship and citizenship behaviours and to formulate a conceptual model that incorporates the antecedents of these behaviours. Design/methodology/approach: The author collected data from 858 residents of Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, in January 2016. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses. Findings: This study found that two behaviours – city ambassadorship and city citizenship – result from residents’ positive attitudes about the city. In turn, the perceived quality of the city’s major attributes, including its activities, economy, nature, socialisation and transport, positively affect resident satisfaction and identification. Practical implications: City administrators and marketers are encouraged to complement the goal of increasing resident satisfaction with these two behavioural indicators to analyse a city’s resident groups, compare and benchmark them with other cities and track changes periodically. Furthermore, the findings suggest that city administrators must develop their cities in a balanced and holistic way because all attributes of a city significantly affect its residents’ attitudes and behaviours. Originality/value: This research extends the academic understanding of residents by investigating “city ambassadorship behaviours” and “city citizenship behaviours” within the city marketing discipline. The two concepts and the conceptual model can be further used to study residents in other contexts. Researchers can also use these two concepts to further develop alternative conceptual frameworks that deepen and broaden the understanding of residents’ positive behaviours.