Does getting along matter? Tourist-tourist rapport in guided group activities

Guided group activities, where tourists consume with other tourists, are common and important. Although the tourism and services literature suggests customer-employee rapport impacts customer satisfaction, the composition and impact of tourist-tourist rapport in guided group activities have received minimal attention. We use a three-study mixed method approach to conceptualize and examine tourist-tourist rapport in guided group activities. Study 1 identifies two recognized dyadic dimensions of tourist-tourist rapport (enjoyable interaction and personal connection) and two new group-based dimensions (group attentiveness and service congruity). Study 2 (video experiment) and Study 3 (field experiment) find that enjoyable interaction and personal connection mediate the relationship between group attentiveness and service congruity with satisfaction. Thus, touristtourist rapport in a group context is more multidimensional and complex than previously conceptualized for customer-employee rapport and non-group contexts. Further, we find tourist-tourist rapport is a critical service factor such that high levels satisfy, while low levels dissatisfy.