Brand gestalt scale development and validation: A takeoff from tourism destination branding

Abstract

This study aims to develop and validate a multidimensional measurement scale for brand gestalt. Following a systematic scale development procedure, a highly representative pool of scale items describing brand gestalt of tourism destinations was derived from relevant literature, on-site interviews, and website analyses. The dimensionality of the brand gestalt scale was confirmed using data from a sample of 366 tourists of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The resulting brand gestalt scale is a product of the synergy of four interrelated dimensions, namely: stories, experiences, environments, and stakeholders. The scale was validated using an independent sample of 343 respondents. The proposed 19–item brand gestalt scale demonstrated good fit, reliability, and validity. Implications on collective and multi-dimensional co-creative brand scale were discussed. • Brand gestalt is brand multi-dimensionality described holistically and perceptually. • Brand gestalt consists of stories, experiences, environments, and stakeholders. • Brand gestalt assesses the extent of co-creation of a destination brand by stakeholders.