Social media communication and destination brand equity

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to further the knowledge of what effect destination and tourist social media communications have on destination brand equity.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors performed a quantitative study with 433 international tourists and social media users using an online survey and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that user-generated content (UGC) and destination-generated content (DGC) both positively affect tourist behavior through the mediating role of destination brand equity. Of the two, UGC is more important for building a positive destination image and more valuable for improving perceived destination quality and value. The results also show that affective image is a powerful predictor of tourist behavior.

Practical implications

The findings provide useful insights for destination management organizations (DMOs) and social media marketing strategies. DMOs need to generate content that was highly relatable and evokes emotion, and encourage tourists to share their own experiences to improve destination brand equity and future behavior.

Originality/value

The study was conducted in the passive, pretrip stage before a travel decision is taken, which offers unique insight into how social media communications affect: destination brand equity and users’ decisions to choose certain destinations over others.

研究目的

本文旨在进一步了解目的地和旅游社交媒体传播对目的地品牌资产的影响。

研究设计/方法/途径

本论文使用在线调查和结构方程模型对 433 名国际游客和社交媒体用户进行了定量研究。

研究结果

结果表明, 用户生成的内容（UGC）和目的地生成的内容（DGC）都通过目的地品牌资产的中介作用对游客行为产生积极影响。两者中, UGC对于建立积极的目的地形象更为重要, 对于提高感知的目的地质量和价值更有价值。结果还表明, 情感形象是旅游行为的有力预测因素。

实际意义

研究结果为目的地管理组织 (DMO) 和社交媒体营销策略提供了有用的见解。 DMO 需要生成具有高度相关性和唤起情感的内容, 并鼓励游客分享自己的经验, 以提高目的地品牌资产和未来行为。

原创性/价值

该研究是在做出旅行决定之前的被动旅行前阶段进行的, 它提供了关于社交媒体传播如何影响：(i) 目的地品牌资产, 以及 (ii) 用户的选择决定某些目的地优于其他目的地的独特见解。

Citation

Stojanovic, I., Andreu, L. and Curras-Perez, R. (2022), "Social media communication and destination brand equity", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 650-666. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-11-2020-0302