Value-oriented storytelling: does it matter for destination performance?

Abstract

Purpose - The present study aims to propose a conceptual model for the management of destination marketing on the consumer side in order to fill a research gap in the literature regarding the ability of experiential value quality to increase destination loyalty. Design - The research, designed as a quantitative research, included data provided by 208 respondents related to culinary destination experience quality, value-oriented storytelling, destination image, and destination loyalty. Methodology - This quantitative study involved tourists visiting the culinary destination of Semarang city in Indonesia. The data collected from 208 visitors were analysed using a structural equation model (AMOS software). Findings - The primary finding of the research emerged from the result of the serial mediation hypothesis test, which stated that improving the quality of experience of a culinary destination would enhance the effectiveness of value-based storytelling, which in turn would improve the image of the culinary destination and strengthen the loyalty of the destination. Originality- The originality of this research lies in the introduction of two new concepts — first, the experiential quality of a culinary destination in two dimensions, hard-value experience and soft-value recall, and second, the concept of value-based storytelling developed as a perspective of service-dominant logic theory. We have integrated both concepts into a conceptual model and successfully tested them with tourists in culinary destinations.