The Influence of Destination-Country Image on Prospective Tourists’ Visit Intention: Testing Three Competing Models |
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| Authors: | Hongmei Zhang Ho Hon Leung Liping A Cai |
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| Institution: | 1. College of Territorial Resources and Tourism Management, Anhui Normal University, ?People's Republic of China;2. Sociology Department, State University of New York College at Oneonta, USA.;3. Purdue Tourism and Hospitality Research Center, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, USA |
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| Abstract: | The concept of destination-country image (DCI) in tourism context is an integration of two constructs from different fields: country image from international marketing and destination image from tourism. Based on the concept of attitude in the theory of reasoned action and halo effect view, this study explains the macro and micro structures that support DCI, and tests the influence of the original DCI on visit intention of prospective tourists through three competing models. The results show that the macro DCI includes four dimensions: country character, country competence, people character and people competence; the micro DCI is composed of three dimensions: natural attraction, cultural attraction and service facility. Full mediating model is supported, which indicates that macro DCI has an indirect effect on visit intention through micro DCI. This study proposes an integrated construct of the DCI and full mediating model, which adds knowledge of the relationship between original image and potential tourist's visit intention. |
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| Keywords: | macro destination-country image micro destination-country image original image prospective tourist visit intention |
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