旅游目的地品牌标识评价研究——以中国优秀旅游城市为例

品牌标识是旅游目的地的核心品牌要素,也是其竞争优势的重要来源.但是,目前国内外对旅游目的地品牌标识及其评价的研究很少.文章在分析旅游目的地品牌标识内涵和类型基础上,提出旅游目的地品牌标识评价应遵循市场营销之功能性原则.基于此,文章构建了旅游目的地品牌标识评价的IDCAM模型,提出一个好的品牌标识应该具备识别性、区分性、一致性、易于被注意和易于被记忆之特征.以该模型为基础,文章从信号传递、符号意义、要素组合、视觉要素四个视角对旅游目的地品牌标识评价的具体标准进行了研究,并构建了基于IDCAM模型的旅游目的地品牌标识评价标准模型.依据IDCAM模型,我国优秀旅游城市正在独立使用的149个品牌标识大部分具有识别性,但是区分性明显不够,而且符合理想层次评价标准者仅有31个.     

Cognitive,affective, conative,and action loyalty: Testing the impact of inertia

Research increasingly emphasizes the significance of customer loyalty to a firm's success. In order to provide a clearer understanding of hotel customers’ loyalty-formation process, this study proposed and tested an extended Oliver's (1997) four-stage loyalty model by employing a multi-dimensional approach for each attitudinal loyalty stage while considering the moderating impact of inertia. The original model was slightly altered to improve its fit and predictive ability. Results from the structural model generally supported proposed paths among the variables in the model (cognitive, affective, and conative loyalty components and action loyalty) and verified the mediating roles of study variables in forming action loyalty. Further, findings from structural group comparisons using invariance tests indicated that the links from satisfaction to commitment and intention and from intention to action loyalty were stronger for the low inertia group, supporting the moderating role of inertia. Implications are discussed, and limitations of this study are briefly outlined.     

Market structure and demand-side substitutability of chained urban hotel segments

This study analyzes how the demand in hotel markets is divided amongst chained hotel segments. Hypotheses regarding consumers’ switching behavior due to changes in income levels and relative prices are tested using data from 25 major urban markets in the United States, encompassing segments ranging from luxury to economy over 43 quarters. The effects of differentiation and market concentration are also investigated in this context. The results suggest that leisure and individual consumers of the low-scale segments may be trading “up” to higher scales when their income increase, but that upscale segments’ corporate consumers are not necessarily trading “down” when Corporate Income fall. In addition, only low-scale segments appear to be substitutes to upscale segments, but the inverse seems not to be true. Also, properties in mid-range segments are found to be the only ones benefiting from a high market concentration, while low-scale properties turn out to be the ones gaining from differentiation through price.     

The effects of customers’ perceptions of brand personality in casual theme restaurants

Although existing studies recommend that restaurant chains develop and communicate salient brand personalities, no research to date provides empirical evidence that perceptions of unique brand personality by consumers lead to positive outcomes in the restaurant business. Therefore, using a sample of 336 adults, this research models the causal relationships between brand personality perceptions, brand preference, attitudinal loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth (W-O-M) behavior for the Olive Garden and Chili's restaurant chains. It was found that for both chains, brand personality perceptions have a positive effect on brand preference and attitudinal loyalty, brand preference has a positive impact on attitudinal loyalty, and attitudinal loyalty has a positive influence on positive word-of-mouth (W-O-M) communication. In addition, for the Olive Garden and Chili's brands, it was also found that there is a direct link between brand preference and word-of-mouth behavior.     

Enhancing customers’ brand loyalty via branded hotel apps

Many hotels have launched their own branded mobile applications to develop relationships with customers. Yet, research examining the benefits of branded hotel apps on brand loyalty is scant. The current research investigates the role of branded hotel apps on brand loyalty through customer engagement and brand trust in the hotel industry, based on uses and gratifications theory. Results identified cognitive and social benefits of the branded hotel apps positively influenced customer engagement and brand trust. Hedonic benefits positively influenced customer engagement and they indirectly influenced brand trust through customer engagement. Both customer engagement and brand trust positively influenced brand loyalty. Moreover, mediation effects of customer engagement and brand trust were identified. Results highlight how branded hotel apps serve as a facilitator of brand loyalty, providing theoretical and managerial implications.     

World Leisure and Recreation Association International Position Statement on Leisure Education and Youth at Risk

Researchers have noted the utility of the Investment Model in explaining the formation of loyalty. This study extends the Investment Model in a leisure service context by including two additional constructs of quality and value. Quality and value are proposed as antecedents of satisfaction, with their effects on loyalty mediated by satisfaction. Results from an online panel survey of American cruise passengers support these hypotheses. The study provides a model of loyalty building that may shed new insight on loyalty research.     

International Business Tourism: Destination Dublin or Destination Ireland?

Abstract

The Republic of Ireland has been running the same basic brand proposition in its various marketing campaigns for some decades (Morgan, Pritchard and Pride, 2002). However, it is unclear whether the destination brand construct that has served Ireland's general tourism market so well can apply equally when attracting business tourism to Dublin, the nation's capital city. This research primarily applies repertory grid analysis and on-line focus groups to understand the brand of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, and explores the way the marketing of a national capital city for business tourism both influences, and is influenced by, the marketing of the nation itself.     

Enhancing online brand experiences: An application of congruity theory

Providing a distinctive brand experience is critical to differentiate each hotel brand from others, due to the intangible characteristics of the hotel industry. Rooted in congruity theory, this study investigated how three congruities (i.e., self-image congruity, online–offline brand image congruity, and value congruity) influenced customers’ online brand experiences and their brand trust. Results from this study indicated both self-image congruity and online–offline brand image congruity significantly influenced both customers’ online brand experiences and their trust toward the hotel's brand. Extending brand experience literature and congruity theory, this study suggested hotels should develop a strategy that could capture these three congruity effects in online and offline channels because these effects should be key determinants for customers’ online brand experiences and their responses.     

Corporate brand strategy: Drivers and outcomes of hotel industry’s brand orientation

The MNC resellers are vastly competitive and capital-intensive. Based on the corporate brand orientation, the objective is to investigate how the individual dimensions of hotel industry’s brand orientation can improve a corporate experience and subsequently create superior hotel performance and retailer preferences. A model of the integration of the hotel industry’s brand orientation was tested in a survey conducted among MNC resellers from hospitality industry. Structural equation modelling was applied to gain insight into the various influences and relationships. The research makes two main contributions. It makes a theoretical contribution by classifying the integration of the hotel industry’s brand orientation for hospitality industry and from this extrapolate key suggestions for further study. The continuous evolution and economic influence of the hospitality industry require the application of innovative marketing practices.     

Reexamination of attendee-based brand equity

The significance of brand concept has been increasingly recognized in the MICE industry due to its ability to create a compelling competitive edge. Complementing the major limitation of a study on attendee-based brand equity [Lee, J. S., & Back, K. J. (2008). Attendee-based brand equity. Tourism Management, 29(2), 331–344], this study reexamines attendee-based brand equity by additionally sampling regional CHRIE conferences (RCs) and comparing the data with I-CHRIE's annual conference (IC) in the context of our theoretical model. This research not only increases the theoretical validity of the previous model of attendee-based brand equity, but also explores brand equity as captured through the differential brand knowledge effect by comparing IC and RCs.