Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Dr. Zengxiang Chen is an assistant professor at the College of Tourism and Service Management, Nankai University. His primary research interest includes tourist psychology and behavior, destination branding research.

Dr. Xiang (Robert) Li is a professor and Washburn Senior Research Fellow at the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University. Robert's research mainly focuses on destination marketing and tourist behavior, with special emphasis on international destination branding, customer loyalty, and tourism in Asia.

Ms. Yuan Wang is a PhD student at School of Tourism and Hospitality Management and Fox School of Business, Temple University. Yuan is interested in topics related to destination image and tourist attitude.

Dr. Laura Lawton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management. Her specialties include resident perceptions of tourism, special events, cruise ship tourism, and sustainable tourism. She is the co-author of the textbook Tourism Management.

Abstract (150 Words)

Previous resident opinion research treated resident attitude as either positive or negative, even though they may hold mixed feelings toward tourism events. To enhance the understanding of residents’ ambivalent attitudes in tourism literature, the current research introduced the ambivalence construct, and examined the impacts of ambivalence on residents’ attitudes about mega-events and their behavior intentions. Three waves of data collected from 2010 Shanghai Expo (at the beginning, right before the end and six months after the Expo) showed an inverted-U shape for residents’ ambivalent attitudes toward the Expo. Data also revealed that ambivalence was negatively related to residents’ behavior intentions of offering support for the event. Results showed that ambivalence moderated the relationship between satisfaction with Expo and behavior intention. Specifically, satisfaction has greater effects on behavior intention when ambivalence is low and has weaker effects on behavior intention when ambivalence is high.

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The Role of Attitudinal Ambivalence in Residents’ Support for a Mega-Event

Previous resident opinion research treated resident attitude as either positive or negative, even though they may hold mixed feelings toward tourism events. To enhance the understanding of residents’ ambivalent attitudes in tourism literature, the current research introduced the ambivalence construct, and examined the impacts of ambivalence on residents’ attitudes about mega-events and their behavior intentions. Three waves of data collected from 2010 Shanghai Expo (at the beginning, right before the end and six months after the Expo) showed an inverted-U shape for residents’ ambivalent attitudes toward the Expo. Data also revealed that ambivalence was negatively related to residents’ behavior intentions of offering support for the event. Results showed that ambivalence moderated the relationship between satisfaction with Expo and behavior intention. Specifically, satisfaction has greater effects on behavior intention when ambivalence is low and has weaker effects on behavior intention when ambivalence is high.