The moderating role of place attachment on the relationship between attitudes toward fees and spending preferences

The variable, place attachment, has recently been used by investigators to assist in understanding visitor responses to fee programs on public lands. This paper examines the relationship between place attachment (i.e., place identity and place dependence), attitudes toward paying fees, and visitor preferences for spending fee revenue within the context of social judgment theory. It was hypothesized that both place dependence and place identity would moderate the relationship between recreationists' attitudes toward the site's fee program and visitor support for spending revenue generated by the fee program in the areas of facilities and service development, environmental protection, and environmental education. Data were collected at Mono Basin Scenic Area over the summer of 1998. Results indicated that only place identity was a statistically significant moderator, such that it magnified the relationship between recreationists' attitudes toward the fee program and spending support. As place identity increased and recreationists' attitudes toward the fee program became more positive, support for spending fee revenue also increased. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.