Destination familiarity is thought to critically influence tourists’ decision-making processes. Yet the role of familiarity in shaping tourists’ and residents’ image of, and loyalty to, a destination remains uncertain. This research tests a complex and holistic model of familiarity, affective, cognitive and overall images, and the conative behavioural intentions of visiting and recommending the destination for both residents and visitors in the context of the emerging tourism destination of Molise, Italy. The results reveal that residents and visitors differ in terms of their familiarity and intention to visit a place, with familiarity being less likely to influence residents’ intentions. There is heterogeneity between residents and visitors’ affective image and intention to visit, as well as between their overall image and intention to recommend Molise. Hence, unlike visitors, residents are more likely to respond to factual cognitive imaging, rather than emotional messaging, suggesting that shifting residents’ perceptions of place image requires a different approach to that of visitors. Future research should seek to confirm the relationships in a multi-destination study.

人们认为目的地的熟悉程度会严重影响游客的决策过程。然而，熟悉度在塑造游客和居民对目的地的形象以及对目的地的忠诚度方面的作用仍然不确定。这项研究测试了复杂，整体的模型，包括熟悉性，情感性，认知性和整体性图像，以及在新兴的意大利莫利塞旅游背景下为居民和游客推荐并访问目的地的有益行为意图。结果表明，居民和访客的熟悉程度和访问地点的意愿有所不同，熟悉程度不太可能影响居民的意图。居民和访客的情感形象和访问意图之间存在异质性，以及他们的整体形象和打算推荐Molise的意图之间。因此，与访客不同，居民更有可能对事实认知影像做出反应，而不是对情感信息作出反应，这表明改变居民对地点影像的感知需要采取与访客不同的方法。未来的研究应设法确认多目的地研究中的关系。