How do overtourism perceptions affect residents’ support?—from the perspective of conservation of resources theory

Guided by the Conservation of Resources Theory, this study explores how residents’ overtourism perceptions affect their support for local tourism development. An integrated structural equation model incorporating mediating and moderating factors, including place dependence, group relative deprivation, and trust in government governance, was developed to analyze 307 residents in Chinese cities experiencing overtourism. The results indicate that overtourism perceptions directly reduce residents’ support for tourism development and operate through a mediation mechanism by weakening place dependence and increasing group relative deprivation. Furthermore, trust in government governance was found to partially alleviate the adverse effects of overtourism perceptions on residents’ support for tourism development. These findings enrich overtourism research by incorporating residents’ perspectives and extending the applicability of the Conservation of Resources Theory to government management.