Explaining Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Rural Tourism Destinations in Southwest China: The Roles of Digital Access Convenience and Place Attachment

Abstract

This study investigates how the service marketing mix (7Ps) contributes to Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) in rural tourism destinations, highlighting the mediating roles of Digital Access Convenience (DAC) and Place Attachment (PA). Using survey data from domestic tourists who participated in rural tourism activities in Yunnan Province, Southwest China (N = 604), the proposed model was tested via structural equation modeling with bootstrapped confidence intervals. The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity. The structural results indicate that all seven 7Ps dimensions significantly and positively predict DAC, with Physical Evidence showing the strongest effect. For PA, Product, Price, Place, People, Process, and Physical Evidence exhibit significant positive effects, whereas Promotion is not significant. With respect to SCA, Product, Place, Promotion, Process, and Physical Evidence have significant positive direct effects, while Price and People are not supported. Moreover, DAC positively predicts both PA and SCA, and PA positively predicts SCA. Bootstrapping confirms that PA mediates most 7Ps–SCA relationships (except Promotion), and DAC provides significant indirect pathways from each 7Ps dimension to SCA. Overall, the findings demonstrate that rural destinations can strengthen sustainable competitiveness by enhancing digitally enabled service accessibility and fostering place-based bonds, with process reliability, credible physical evidence, and accessibility-related factors playing particularly salient roles..