Abstract
This paper conducts a study on brand image formation. In this sense, this research was developed to contribute to the tourism sector, and to do so, it had two major aims. The first one was to evaluate if destination branding factors influence the image assessment of a specific tourist destination: the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. The second aim was to estimate if the image of this tourist destination is directly related to loyalty. Therefore, this paper provides a theoretical and an empirical contribution to the theme by using a set of destination branding dimensions to evaluate the image of Rio de Janeiro and to test its influence on destination loyalty. This research follows a quantitative exploratory approach, and in order to reach the designated aims, two research techniques were used: exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The results confirmed four out of the five hypotheses established a priori in the proposed model. It can be concluded that the structural model is a reliable model.
Highlights
Tourism is a sector that grows and expands rapidly, and by doing so, it moves economies, communities, and organizations worldwide
This paper provides a theoretical and an empirical contribution to the theme by using the destination branding dimension set [13] to evaluate the image of Rio de Janeiro and to test its influence on destination loyalty
With regard to the statistical methods used, they consisted of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM), which were based on theoretical analysis of Hair Jr et al The hypothesis model proposed in Figure 1 was adapted from Carvalho, aimed at meeting the main goal of this study, which was to estimate if the factors present in the composition of the destination branding model were able to evaluate effectively the image and the loyalty to the destination [13]
Summary
Tourism is a sector that grows and expands rapidly, and by doing so, it moves economies, communities, and organizations worldwide. A brand is a combination of tangible and intangible attributes It is a product or a service that is preceded by dimensions and aims at consumer satisfaction, which, by its turn, is materialized through functional, emotional, self-expression, and social benefits [1,2,3]. In the scientific theoretical context, destination branding is a theory of brand measurement that proposes a theoretical model composed of several factors, such as destination attributes, brand equity, brand personality, brand as a symbol, image, and loyalty [10,11,12,13,14] These factors, identified in the literature, give support to the development of this study. The fourth part reveals the theoretical and managerial implications, and the conclusions regarding the study
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