Tourism Destination's Reputation and Visitors' Affective Evaluation and Cognitive Perception Case Study: Isfahan City

Document Type : Articles extracted from Thesis

Authors

1 M.A. of Tourism Marketing, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Tourism Management, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran

3 Associate Professor of Tourism Management, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran

Abstract

Extended Abstract
Introduction
In recent years, brand and reputation issues have been widely discussed nationally, regionally, in local communities, and destination marketing strategies. Reputation is a component of attractiveness and encompasses the overall image of the destination. Reputation plays a vital role in tourism development. It positively affects the image of the destination, perception of the value and loyalty of tourists to a destination, and ultimately their satisfaction. The reputation of a destination plays an essential role in attracting tourists. Besides, reputation is a critical aspect in evaluating destination characteristics based on visitors' affective evaluation and cognitive perception. Isfahan has long been known as a domestic and international tourism destination. The city hosts many local and international tourists with its many potentials, including numerous historical sites and climatic and natural diversity. Previous studies show that Isfahan has not been adequately introduced to tourism markets despite having many historical and cultural attractions and does not have a perfect destination image. Paying attention to the components of Isfahan's urban reputation and identifying them based on visitors' perceptions will help better understand the preferences and needs of tourists and what they want to experience. In this regard, this study's primary purpose is to investigate the factors affecting Isfahan's reputation and the affective and cognitive assessment of the city's reputation from the perspective of two groups of people who have traveled to Isfahan or have not traveled. The presented model in this study examines the relationship between cognitive perception and affective evaluation with destination reputation and the mediating role of destination image, residents' hospitality, and local people's attitude towards tourists, which researchers in previous studies have not considered.
 
Methodology
The indicators were collected based on previous studies and then approved by experts to design a questionnaire to measure dependent and independent variables. After assessing the questionnaire's validity by 15 tourism and marketing management professors, the designed questionnaire was distributed among 30 respondents. After reviewing and analyzing the answers, the wording of some questions was corrected, and then the final questionnaire was developed.
Its validity was calculated based on Cronbach's alpha that was obtained 0.895, which indicates the appropriate validity of the research questions. To test the designed model, questionnaires were distributed by random sampling among two groups of people who have traveled to Isfahan or not. The statistical sample of 384 people was selected based on the Cochran model. After distributing and discarding the distorted and incomplete questionnaires, 295 complete questionnaires were processed using SPSS software.
 
Results and discussion
This study's results helped enrich the theoretical literature in the field of reputation and management of tourism destinations. The presented model in this study examined the relationship between cognitive perception and affective evaluation with the destination's reputation and the mediating role of the destination image, the hospitality of residents, and local people's attitude towards tourists. Identifying these relationships is very important for marketers of tourism destinations so that they can continuously attract tourists. The destination's image, the hospitality of the residents, and the local people's attitude towards the tourists play a mediating role in shaping the destination's reputation. Therefore, even though tourists have a positive affective evaluation and cognitive perception; if the destination does not have a good image, its residents are not hospitable and do not have a good attitude towards tourists and these factors will probably not affect the reputation of the destination. The results showed that among the effective factors on Isfahan's reputation, the destination image affects its reputation more than other factors. There is no significant difference in the city's reputation between the attitude of people who visited Isfahan and people who have not been there before. This research showed that the reputation of the destination and the recommendation of friends and relatives are critical factors in introducing Isfahan to visitors, and media, exhibitions, and training have a minimal role in this regard. It can be said that paying attention to comfort, diversity of destination activities, security, proper infrastructure, good transportation, marketing, and promotion of cultural attractions strengthened the cognitive perception of visitors to the destination and positively enhanced its reputation, providing leisure facilities for tourists can be attractive and have a positive effect on their attitudes towards Isfahan.
 
Conclusion
Reputation is an essential factor in choosing Isfahan and encourages tourists to respect the destination and the residents. The destination's good reputation makes it more believable and reliable for tourists and affects the degree of loyalty, satisfaction, and promotion of visitors' image of the destination. This study shows that destination image, hospitality, and local community attitudes have a positive effect on reputation. The findings indicate that unique attractions and entertainment have the most significant effect on Isfahan's reputation. Pay more attention to innovation and creativity in providing products and services, gaining trust in the target market, and better management of attractions can promote the image of Isfahan. The results showed that people's cognitive perception of Isfahan's reputation was a factor in revisiting this city and directly affected people's perception of reputation. There was a high correlation between the cognitive perception and reputation of Isfahan.

Keywords


  1. آهنگر احمدی، ساناز (1395) تحلیل نقش برند میراث جهانی در جذب گردشگران بین‌الملل بازدیدکننده از ایران. پایان‌نامه کارشناسی ارشد مدیریت بازاریابی جهانگردی، به راهنمایی روزبه میرزائی و مشاوره آندریاس دیتمن، دانشکده علوم انسانی و اجتماعی، دانشگاه مازندران، بابلسر.
  2. رنجبریان، بهرام؛ امامی، علیرضا و غفاری، محمد (1393) رفتار مصرف‌کننده در گردشگری، چاپ اول، تهران: مهکامه.
  3. طباطبایی نسب، محمد و ماه آورپور، فهیمه (1396) مدل‌سازی ساختاری عوامل مؤثر بر شهرت مقصد گردشگری و تأثیر آن بر ارزش ویژه برند مقصد مطالعه موردی: شهر اصفهان، مجله گردشگری شهری، دوره 4، شماره 1، صص.86-71.
  4. غفاری، محمد؛ کنجکاو منفرد، علیرضا و عسگرنژاد نوری، باقر (1398) واکاوی نقش تصویر ذهنی گردشگران از برند بر شهرت مقصد گردشگری مطالعه موردی: شهر یزد، مجله گردشگری شهری، دوره 6، شماره 2، صص 59-45.
  5. Aaker, D. A. (1996) Managing Brand Equity, the Free Press, New York.
  6. Ahangar Ahmadi, S. (2016) Investigating the role of world heritage sites in attracting international tourists visiting Iran (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. [In Persian].
  7. Artigas, E. M. & Vilches-Montero, S. & Yrigoyen, C. C. (2015) Antecedents of tourism destination reputation: The mediating role of familiarity, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 26, pp.147-152.
  8. Baloglu, S. & Brinberg, D. (1997) Affective images of tourism destination, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 35, pp.11–15.
  9. Beerli, A. & Martín, J. D. (2004) Factors influencing destination image. Annals of Tourism Research. Vol.31, No.3, pp. 657–681.
  10. Breitsohl, J. & Garrod, B. (2016) Assessing tourists' cognitive, emotional and behavioural reactions to an unethical destination incident, Tourism Management, Vol,54, pp.209-220
  11. Chen, J. S. & Uysal, M. (2002) Market positioning analysis: a hybrid approach, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol.29, No.4, pp.987–1003.
  12. Christou, E. (2007) Tourist destinations as brands: the impact of destination image and reputation on visitor loyalty. In: Keller, P., Bieger, T. (Eds.), Productivity in Tourism: Fundamentals for Achieving Growth and Competitiveness. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin.
  13. Crompton, J. L. (1979) An Assessment of the Image of Mexico as a Vacation Destination and the Influence of Geographical Location upon That Image, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp.18-23.
  14. Fombrun, C. J. & Gardberg, N. & Sever, J. (2000) The Reputation Quotient: a multi stakeholder measure of corporate reputation, Journal of Brand Management. Vol.7, No.4, pp.241-255.
  15. Fombrun, C. J. & Shanley, M. (1990) What’s in a name? Reputation building and corporate strategy, Academy of Management Journal, Vol.33, pp.233-258.
  16. Ghafari, M. & Kojkav Monfared, A. & Asgarnjeadnoori, B. (2019) Investigating the effect of tourism destination image on its reputation (Yazd province as a case study), Journal of Urban Tourism, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp.45-59. [In Persian].
  17. Gursoy, D. & Chen, J. S. & Chi, C. G. (2014) Theoretical examination of destination loyalty formation, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol.26, No.5, pp.809-827.
  18. Henkel, R. & Henkel, P. & Agrusa, W. & Tanner, J. (2006) Thailand as a tourist destination Perceptions of international visitors and Thai residents, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Vol.11, No.3, pp.269 –287.
  19. Herbig, P. & Milewicz, J. & Golden, J. (1994) A model of reputation building and destruction, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 31, pp.23-31.
  20. Herington, C. & Merrilees, B. & Wilkins, H. (2013) Preferences for destination attributes: differences between short and long breaks, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol.19, No.2, pp. 149- 163.
  21. Hu, Y. & Ritchie, J. (1993) Measuring destination attractiveness: A contextual approach. Journal of Travel Research, Vol.32, No.2, pp.25–34.
  22. Kim, J. & Ritchie, J. R. (2013) Cross-Cultural Validation of a Memorable Tourism Experience Scale (MTES), Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp.323-335.
  23. Kim, S. & Yoon, Y. (2003) The hierarchical effects of affective and cognitive components on tourism destination image, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol.14, No.2, pp.1–22.
  24. Kozak, M. & Rimmington, M. (1998) Benchmarking: Destination attractiveness and small hospitality business performance, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol.10, No.5, pp.184–188.
  25. Lin, C. H. & Morais, D. B. & Kerstetter, D. L. & Hou, J. S. (2007) Examining the role of cog- native and affective image in predicting choice across natural, developed, and theme park destinations, Journal of Travel Research, Vol.46, pp.183–194.
  26. Loureiro, S. M. C. & Kastenholz, E. (2011) Corporate reputation, satisfaction, delight, and loyalty towards rural lodging units in Portugal, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 30, pp.575–583.
  27. Mariconda, S. & Lurati, F. (2015) Does familiarity breed stability? The role of familiarity in moderating the effects of new information on reputation judgments, Journal of Business Research, Vol.68, No.5, pp.957–964.
  28. Marks, L. J. & Olson, J. C. (1981) Toward a cognitive structure conceptualization of product familiarity, Advances of Consumer Research, Vol.8, No.1, pp.145–150.
  29. Mehrabian, A. & Russell, J. A. (1974) An Approach to Environmental Psychology, Cambridge, MA. MIT Press.
  30. Morgan, N. & Pritchard, A. (2014) Destination reputations and brands: Communication challenges, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, Vol.3, No.1, pp.1-12.
  31. Murphy, P. & Pritchard, M. P. & Smith, B. (2000) The destination product and its impact on traveller perceptions, Tourism Management. Vol.21, No.1, pp.43–52.
  32. Ou, W. M. & Russell, A. & Dion, P. (2006) The influence of retailer reputation on store patronage, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. Vol.13, No.3, pp.221–230.
  33. Ranjbarian, B. & Emami, A. & Ghafari, M. (2004) Consumer behavior in tourism, Mahkameh, Tehran. [In Persian].
  34. Reitsamer, B. F. & Brunner-Sperdin, A. & Stokburger-Sauer, N. E. (2016) Destination attractiveness and destination attachment: The mediating role of tourists' attitude, Tourism Management Perspectives, Vol.19, pp.93-101.
  35. San Martin, H. & Collado, J. & Rodriguez del Bosque, I. (2013) An exploration of the effects of past experience and tourist involvement on destination loyalty formation, Current Issues in Tourism, Vol.16, No.4, pp.327-342.
  36. Stabler, M. J. (1990) the Image of Destination Regions: Theoretical and Empirical Aspects. In Marketing in the Tourism Industry: The Promotion of Destination Regions.
  37. Su, L. & Huang, Y. & Hsu, M. (2018) Unraveling the impact of destination reputation on place attachment and behavior outcomes among Chinese urban tourists, Journal of hospitality and tourism insights, Vol.1, No.4, pp.290-308.
  38. Tabatabai Nasab, M. & Mahavarpour, F. (2017) Structural modeling factors affecting on tourism destination reputation and its impact on brand equity (case study Isfahan), Journal of Urban Tourism, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp.71-86. [In Persian].
  39. Wilson, H. W. (1985) Reputations in games and markets. In: Roth, A.E. (Ed.), Game-Theoretic Models of Bargaining. Cambridge University Press, New York.
  40. Woodside, A. G. & Lysonsky, S. (1989) A general model of travel destination choice, Journal of Travel Research, Vol.27, pp.8–14.
  41. Yoon, E. & Guffey, H. J. & Kijewski, V. (1993) The effects of information and company reputation on intentions to buy a business service, Journal of Business Research. Vol.27, No.3, pp.215–228.