Analyzing the effect of brand equity of a tourism destination on the loyalty of its tourists with the mediating role of Brand experience: the Case study of Sarein city

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Tourism Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Geography, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

3 Department of Political Geography, Imam Ali University, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jut.2024.352264.1094

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
Branding a place is not the end of the road, and branding a destination is effective as long as it has a high brand equity With the view that knowledge of the characteristics of the destination, the image created in the tourist's mind and the quality perceived by the traveler, determines the tourist experience and ultimately, by motivating him to make a decision, determines the tourist's return to the destination, The research aims to evaluate the effect of brand equity of Sarein tourism destination by considering the mediating role of brand experience on tourist loyalty.
The present research is applied in terms of purpose and survey in terms of descriptive method; Data were collected in the form of library and field based on questionnaire tools and the collected data were analyzed in SPSS25 and Smart-PLS software. The Finding showed that the brand equity of Sarein tourism city is effective on the mental, emotional and behavioral experiences of tourists and the mental, emotional and behavioral experiences of tourists also positively and significantly affect their loyalty; What should not be hidden from the managers, planners and stakeholders in the study area in general is that providing services and facilities to tourists, although necessary, is not enough and meeting their emotional, behavioral and mental needs is also required. destination managers should strengthen the brand of their destination brand, and promote the experience of tourists to show the loyalty of tourists. destination managers should strengthen the special value of their destination brand, and promote the experience of tourists in order to show the loyalty of tourists. In the end, in accordance with the research findings, suggestions were made to strengthen the brand equity and loyalty of destination tourists
Extended Abstract
Introduction
As for the importance of brand equity, it is enough that if a brand has a high special value, the customer will choose it more willingly, pay more, repeat its purchase and remain loyal to the product, and even Brings word-of-mouth development to the brand. One of the destinations that has always been considered by people and those involved in the tourism industry in the field of tourism is urban destinations; One of the cities of the country that has reached an acceptable reputation in the country and especially in the region with many attractions and in the framework of branding is Sarein city of Ardabil province; Avoidance of research conducted in the field of branding of urban destinations shows that although in the last decade, research conducted in this field shows an acceptable figure, but the percentage of research that has made the destination of Sarein its research base Are not so impressive; By accepting the undeniable impact of Sarein city brand on its tourism development, the role of brand equity on brand development and survival of this city, the importance and necessity of addressing brand equity in the study area is determined; The importance of this issue is doubled when we know that the analysis of the impact of the brand equity of Sarein on tourist loyalty, considering the role of brand experience, has not been any research; research questions can be asked as follows:
The brand equiy of Sarein tourism destination has a positive and significant effect on the mental experience of its tourists;
The brand equiy of Sarein tourism destination has a positive and significant effect on the emotional experience of its tourists;
The brand equiy of Sarein tourism destination has a positive and significant effect on the behavioral experience of its tourists;
The mental experience of tourists in Sarein city has a positive and significant effect on their loyalty;
The emotional experience of tourists in Sarein city has a positive and significant effect on their loyalty;
Behavioral experience of tourists in Sarein city has a positive and significant effect on their loyalty;
 
Methodology
this research is applied and descriptive survey; The statistical population of the present study is the tourists of Sarein city and in consultation with the professors, the number of statistical samples was 250. The completion of theoretical studies and the beginning of survey research studies coincided with the beginning of a new corona wave and the researcher inevitably collected field research information using an online questionnaire; The reliability of the research instrument has been confirmed to the desired level by Cronbach's coefficient and its validity has been confirmed by the experts; Analysis of data after coding was performed in SPSS25 and Smart-PLS2 software environment.
 
Results and discussion
The first hypothesis is confirmed according to the path coefficient of 0.515 and the value of T = 8.494 and it can be concluded that the brand equity of the of Sarein tourism destination has a positive and significant effect on the mental experience of its tourists; Also, the second hypothesis based on the effective role of the brand equity of Sarein city on the emotional experience of its tourists is confirmed according to the coefficient of 0.671 and the value of T = 9.819. The value of T = 12.463 and the obtained path coefficient (= 0.641) for the third hypothesis also show the confirmation of this hypothesis and it can be concluded with high confidence that the brand equity in Sarein tourism destination has a positive and significant effect on behavioral experience of Its tourists. The results for the existing hypotheses regarding the tangible effect of tourists' brand experience on their loyalty show a similar situation and show the confirmation of the fourth to sixth hypotheses of the research; In other words, the obtained T value  for the fourth hypothesis of the research with a coefficient of 0.550 shows that the mental experience of tourists on their loyalty to the destination is positive and significant. The fifth and sixth hypotheses are confirmed with the coefficients and thus the effect of emotional and behavioral experiences of tourists in Sarein city on their loyalty is confirmed.
 
Conclusion
Findings showed that the Brand equity of Sarein tourism destination affects their loyalty by affecting the brand experience of tourists; tourists gain experience when they choose the study area for recreation, health care, hiking or leisure; Findings of the study indicate that it is obvious that tourism professionals in Sarein city should meet the expectations of tourists as much as possible in order to improve the quality of their experience by gaining satisfaction. If the events of the destination do not meet the expectations of the tourist and his experience only turns into bad memories, the tourist will probably not have an incentive to return; If the experience gained by the tourist at the destination is evaluated positively by him, it will lead to the preparations for his loyalty and return to the destination; An event that is likely to act as a catalyst, causing the destination to accelerate more steadily.
 
unding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Keywords

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urban tourism
Volume 11, Issue 2
August 2024
Pages 35-56

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