Exploring Community Residents’ Intentions to Support for Tourism in China’s National Park: A Two-Stage Structural Equation Modeling–Artificial Neural Network Approach

In the process of establishing a protected area system centered on national parks, China’s policies inevitably impact the traditional livelihoods of original community residents, often leading to a diminished sense of social justice. Tourism, serving as a critical bridge between realizing the value of national parks’ ecological products and transitioning community livelihoods, is pivotal for fostering coordination between conservation efforts and community support for tourism. This coordination is essential for enhancing the community’s perception of social justice and achieving the sustainable development goals of national parks. This study aims to investigate the antecedents influencing community willingness to support tourism in national parks. Data were collected from 326 original residents of Wuyishan National Park in China and analyzed using a dual-stage approach that combines Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The findings indicate that all three dimensions of perceived justice—distributive, procedural, and interactional—significantly and positively influence the community’s willingness to support tourism. Community tourism empowerment mediates the relationship between these three dimensions of perceived justice and the support for tourism development. The contrasting results between PLS-SEM and ANN in Model A reveal the complex nature of how perceptions of fairness facilitate community empowerment.