A research on the effect of the country image on memorable tourism experience in the context of some demographic variables

Didem Kutlu; Hasan  Ayyildiz

doi:10.5281/zenodo.7706198

Authors

Didem Kutlu Full-time assistant professor and researcher at Vocational School of Social Sciences, Akdeniz University, Turkey. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3354-5202
Hasan Ayyildiz Full-time professor and researcher at Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Business Administration, Production Management and Marketing, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1954-6719

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7706198

Keywords:

Country Image, Experience, Memorable Tourism Experience (MTE)

Abstract

With the world economy developing based on experience, businesses are trying to create unique experiences to differentiate themselves. The transformation of these experiences into a memorable tourism experience (MTE) not only affects customer satisfaction, but also positively affects the country image which is the impression of consumers about the country. Therefore, this study intents to find the effect of country image on MTE and to reveal which dimensions of country image affect the MTE. Moreover, the effect of demographic factors on the perception of the country image will be investigated. The study was carried out with 707 international tourists visited Antalya, a well-known destination in Turkey, during the months of May-October in 2018. As a result of hierarchical regression analysis the effect of country image on MTE was partially supported and it was revealed that MTE had a positive effect on hedonism, novelty, local culture, and meaningfulness dimensions. Regarding the second objective, a significant difference was found between the marital status, age groups and educational status of international tourists and their country image perceptions. Due to the impact of country image on MTE, policy makers need to make continuous improvement in the context of political, technological, and environmental factors.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Didem Kutlu, Full-time assistant professor and researcher at Vocational School of Social Sciences, Akdeniz University, Turkey.

Ph.D. in Social Sciences / Business Marketing (2020). Master’s in Social Sciences / Business Marketing (2014). Graduation in Tourism and Hotel Management (1999). Full-time assistant professor and researcher at Vocational School of Social Sciences, Akdeniz University. CV: https://avesis.akdeniz.edu.tr/didemkutlu/. Research interest (according to publications) is destination image, tourism experience, electronic word of mouth, and travel agency studies.

Hasan Ayyildiz, Full-time professor and researcher at Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Business Administration, Production Management and Marketing, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey.

Ph.D. in Marketing (2000). Master’s in Marketing (1994). Graduation in Faculty of Political Sciences, Economics (1991). Full-time professor and researcher at Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Business Administration, Production Management and Marketing, Karadeniz Technical University. CV: https://avesis.ktu.edu.tr/ayyildiz. Member of Marketing and Marketing Research Association. Publication Committee Member of Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. Advisory Committee Member of Global Journal of Economics and Business Studies. Research Areas: Social and Human Sciences, Business, Marketing, Strategic Marketing and Brand Management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.

References

Ali, F., Hussain, K. & Neethiahnanthan, A. R. (2014). Memorable customer experience: examining the effects of customers experience on memories and loyalty in Malaysian resort hotels. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 144, 273-279.

Aliyev, Anar (2014). Türkiye imajının turizm talebine etkisi: arap ülkelerinden gelen turistler üzerine bir araştırma. Yayınlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi - Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ankara.

Alvarez, Maria D. & Campo, Sara (2014). The influence of political conflicts on country image and intention to visit: a study of Israel’s image. Tourism Management, 40(2014), 70-78.

Aroeira, T., Dantas, A. C., & Gosling, M. D. S. (2016). Memorable tourist experience, cognitive perception, reputation and loyalty to the destination: an empirical model. Turismo: Visão e Ação, 18(3), 584-610.

Ayyildiz, H. & Cengiz, E. (2007). Country image effect on customer loyalty model. Innovative Marketing, Volume 3(2).

Barnes, S. J., Mattsson, J. & Sorensen, F. (2016). Remembered experiences and revisit intentions: a longitudinal study of safari park visitors. Tourism Management, 57, 286-294.

Beerli, A. & Martin, J. D. (2004). Tourists’ characteristics and the perceived image of tourist destinations: a quantitative analysis—a case study of Lanzarote, Spain. Tourism Management, 25, 623-636.

Bezerra, L. T. (2019). Experiência Memorável de Turistas em Natal-RN. Revista Turismo em Análise, 30(3), 480-495.Chandralal, L. & Valenzuela, F-R. (2013). Exploring memorable tourism experiences: antecedents and behavioural outcomes. Journal of Economics, Business and Management, 1(2), 177-181.

Chi, C. G. Q. (2011). Destination loyalty formation and travelers’ demographic characteristics: A multiple group analysis approach. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 35(2), 191-212.

Churchill, G. A. (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing construct. Journal of Marketing Research, 16 (February), 64-73.

Çoban, Ö., & Ardıç Yetiş, Ş. (2019). The effect of customers’ hotel experience on satisfaction: The mediating role of memorability. Anais Brasileiros De Estudos Turísticos, 9(1, 2 e 3). https://doi.org/10.34019/2238-2925.2019.v9.27384

De Freitas Coelho, M., & De Sevilha Gosling, M. (2018). Memorable Tourism Experience (MTE): scale proposal and test. Tourism & Management Studies, 14(4), 15-24.

De Nisco, A., Mainolfi, G., Marino, V. & Napolitano, M. R. (2015). Tourism satisfaction effect on general country image, destination image, and post-visit intentions. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 21(4), 305-317.

Duman, T. & Mattila, A. S. (2005). The role of affective factors on perceived cruise vacation value. Tourism Management, 26 (2005), 311-323.

Elliot, S. & Papadopoulos, N. (2016). Of products and tourism destinations: an integrative, cross-national study of place image. Journal of Business Research, 69, 1157-1165

Erickson, G. M., Johansson, J. & Chao, P. (1984). Image variables in multi-attribute product evaluations: country-of origin effects. Journal of Consumer Research, 9,694–699.

Erkuş-Öztürk, H. (2009). The role of cluster types and firm size in designing the level of network relations: The experience of the Antalya tourism region. Tourism Management, 30(4), 589-597.

Gegez, Ercan A. (2014). Pazarlama Araştırmaları. 4. Baskı, Beta Yayınları, İstanbul.

Guina, F. D. T. C., & Giraldi, J. D. M. E. (2012). Differences on the image of Brazil in external markets according to consumers' age, gender, knowledge about the country and country of residence. International Journal of Business Science & Applied Management (IJBSAM), 7(2), 13-28.

Güzel, Özlem F. (2007), Türkiye imajının geliştirilmesinde profesyonel turist rehberlerinin rolü (Alman turistler üzerine bir araştırma). Yayınlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi, Balıkesir Üniversitesi - Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Balıkesir.

Han, Min C. (1989). Country image: halo or summary construct. Journal of Marketing Research, 26(2), 222-229.

Hinkins, T. R. (1995). A review of scale development practices in the study of organizations. Journal of Management, 21 (5), 967-88.

Kara, M., & Kunt, S. (2020). An Examination of Sarikamiş Destination Competitiveness from the Luge Athletes’ Perspective: the relationship between tourism experience and perceived destination competitiveness. Anais Brasileiros de Estudos Turísticos, 10(1, 2 e 3). https://doi.org/10.34019/2238-2925.2020.v10.29258

Kim, J-H, Ritchie, J. R. Brent & McCormick, B. (2012). Development of a scale to measure memorable tourism experiences. Journal of Travel Research, 51 (1), 12-25.

Kim, J-H (2014). The antecedents of memorable tourism experiences: the development of a scale to measure the destination attributes associated with memorable experiences. Tourism Management, 44, 34-45.

Kline, Rex B. (2011), Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, Third Edition, The Guilford Press, New York.

Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, http://yigm.kulturturizm.gov.tr/TR-9851/turizm-istatistikleri.html, 08.01.2019.

Laroche, M., Heslop, L. A., Papadopoulos, N. & Mourali, M. (2005). The influence of country image structure on consumer evaluations of foreign products. International Marketing Review, 22(1), 96-115.

Lee, Yi-Ju (2015). Creating memorable experiences in a reuse heritage site. Annals of Tourism Research, 55, 155-170.

Lee, B., Ham, S. & Kim, D. (2015). The effects of likability of Korean celebrities, dramas, and music on preferences for Korean restaurants: a mediating effect of a country image of Korea. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 46, 200–212.

Martinez, S. C. & Alvarez, M. D. (2010). Country versus destination image in a developing country. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 27(7), 748-764

Melón, M. P. A., Fandos-Herrera, C., & Sarasa, R. G. (2021). Analysis of antecedents and consequences of memorable tourist experiences (MTEs): A Spanish case study. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 27(3), 346-360.

Merinero-Rodríguez, R., & Pulido-Fernández, J. I. (2016). Analysing relationships in tourism: A review. Tourism Management, 54, 122-135.

Nadeau, J., Heslop, L., O’Reilly, N. & Luk, P. (2008). Destination in a country image context. Annals of Tourism Research, 35(1), 84-106.

Natasia, N., & Tunjungsari, H. K. (2021, August). Country Image, Destination Image, Self-Congruity, and Revisit Intention to Singapore: The Mediating Role of Memorable Tourism Experience. In International Conference on Economics, Business, Social, and Humanities (ICEBSH 2021) (pp. 1450-1455). Atlantis Press.

OECD Tourism Statistics, Turkey, Tourism in the economy, https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/f3b16239-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/f3b16239-en

Oh, H., Fiore, A. M. & Jeoung, M. (2007). Measuring experience economy concepts: tourism applications. Journal of Travel Research, 46, 119-132.

Palau-Saumell, R., Santiago, F., Carlos, M. A. & Javier, S. (2016). Examining how country image influences destination image in a behavioral intentions model: the cases of lloret de Mar (Spain) and Cancun (Mexico). Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 33(7), 949-965.

Pappu, R., Quester, P. G. & Cooksey, R. W. (2007), Country image and consumer-based brand equity: relationships and implications for international marketing. Journal of International Business Studies, 38, 726-745.

Queiroz, D., de Carvalho, Í. B., Macedo, S. B., & Gosling, M. (2019). Eventos e Mindfulness-Um Estudo no Festival Vibra: Arte, Esporte e Música. Rosa dos Ventos, 11(1), 117-136.

Rafael, C. S., & Almeida, A. R. (2017). Socio-demographic tourist profile and destination image in online environment. Journal of Advanced Management Science Vol, 5(5).373-379.

Ramírez-Alcaraz, J., Palafox-Muñoz, A., & Macías-Ramírez, A. (2020). The Internal Makerting Influence on the Tourist Experience . Latin American Journal of Tourismology, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.34019/2448-198X.2020.v6.30517

Roth, K. P. & Diamantopoulos, A. (2009). Advancing the country image construct. Journal of Business Research, 62(7), 726-740

Stavrianea, A., & Kamenidou, I. (2022). Memorable tourism experiences, destination image, satisfaction, and loyalty: an empirical study of Santorini Island. EuroMed Journal of Business, 17(1), 1-20.

Tukamushaba, E. K., Xiao, H. & Ladkin, A. (2016). The effect of tourists’ perceptions of a tourism product on memorable travel experience: implications for destination branding. De Gruyter Open, EJTHR, 7(1), 2-12.

Türker, Ali (2013), Tatil yeri seçiminde ülke imajının turistin risk algısı üzerine etkisi. Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi, Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi- Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Isparta.

UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation). Tourism Highlights: 2018 Edition, 1-24

Ural, A. & Kılıç, İ. (2006), Bilimsel araştırma süreci ve SPSS ile veri analizi, Detay Yayıncılık, Ankara, 2006.

Verlegh, P. W. J. & Steenkamp, Jan Benedict, E. M. (1999). A review and meta-analysis of country-of-origin research. Journal of Economic Phycology, 20, 521-546.

Wang, C.L., Li, D., Barnes, B. R. & Ahn, J. (2012). Country image, product image and consumer purchase intention: evidence from an emerging economy. International Business Review, 21, 1041-1051.

Zhang, H., Xu, F., Leung, H. H. & Cai, L. A. (2016). The influence of destination-country image on prospective tourists’ visit intention: testing three competing models. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 21(7), 811-835.

Zhang, H, Yan W. & Buhalis, D. (2018). A model of perceived image, memorable tourism experiences and revisit intention. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 8, 326-336.

Zhou X, Wong JWC and Wang S (2022) Memorable tourism experiences in red tourism: The Case of Jiangxi, China. Frontiers in Psychology. 13:899144. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.899144.