Place identity and perceived community resilience in ethnic tourism: evidence from Dali, China

Purpose Integrating Social Exchange Theory (SET) with place identity, this study investigates place identity shapes how residents perceived community resilience in ethnic tourism destinations. It examines the mediating roles of both attitudinal support for tourism development and behavioral conservation of tourism resources, as well as the moderating effects of key demographic characteristics. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative case study was conducted with 613 residents of Bai-majority tourism communities in Dali, China. The hypothesized moderated mediation model was analyzed using structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.3, chosen for its robustness in testing complex relationships with latent variables. Findings Place identity significantly enhances perceived community resilience across social, livelihood, environmental, and governance dimensions. While both support for tourism development and conservation of tourism resources serve as mediators, conservation behavior emerges as the more pervasive mechanism, transmitting place identity's influence on all four resilience dimensions. Furthermore, the strength of these relationships is significantly moderated by resident demographics, most notably the length of residency and education level. Practical implications Destination managers and policymakers should prioritize strengthening residents' place identity and implementing demographically tailored interventions. Specifically, institutionalizing resident participation in tourism planning, ensuring equitable benefit-sharing, and establishing community-led conservation incentive programs are crucial strategies for converting local identity into sustainable, community-wide resilience. Originality/value This research makes a novel theoretical contribution by building and empirically validating a moderated mediation model that integrates SET with place identity. It provides systematic evidence on the distinct pathways, particularly the primacy of conservation behavior and demographic contingencies through which place identity fosters multi-dimensional resilience in ethnic tourism contexts, advancing both theoretical discourse and practical governance strategies.