Making the right stopover destination choice: The effect of assessment orientation on attitudinal stopover destination loyalty
Commercial organisations that seek to profit directly from sales often measure loyalty as a form of ‘good-will’, which can be calculated by accounting measures such as the net-present-value (NPV) of future earnings. However, destination marketing organisations (DMOs) do not profit from visitation in a commercial sense, since they are not directly involved in the sales of services that generate visitation. Therefore, consumer-based brand equity (CBBE), which is based on the proposition that customer perceptions underpin a brand’s financial measures like NPV, is a more realistic indicator of destinations’ future performance.
Attitudinal loyalty is the most important element of the CBBE-based hierarchy of consumers’ perceptions. This is because (1) it is useful as an indicator of future performance in a given target market; (2) it allows destinations to stay in touch with previous visitors from potential markets; and (3) prior experience at a destination is a potential source of competitive advantage. Despite a growing body of literature examining destination CBBE and destination loyalty, there is limited understanding about whether certain traits or characteristics of previous visitors lead to a more positive destination image and higher levels of attitudinal destination loyalty. This is essential to understand as all previous visitors to a destination cannot be regarded as one homogenous segment with equally positive perceptions and the same level of intent to revisit.
This study explores how attitudinal destination loyalty is driven by an assessment orientation, which refers to when consumers seek to achieve their goals by evaluating choice options to enhance decision-making quality. Those with strong interest in making the ‘right’ decision can be considered ‘high assessors.’ Hence, the study proposes that high assessors are likely to prefer places they have already visited and have more knowledge about, and destination brand image explains the mechanism underlying this effect.
Method and sample
An online survey, developed using Qualtrics software, was completed by 200 members of a UK-based consumer marketing research panel, who had previously experienced long-haul international flights. Among these, 100 participants had previously taken a stopover of at least one night in Dubai, and 100 others had not ever taken a stopover in Dubai. Destination brand image and attitudinal destination loyalty were measured using three and four established items respectively, with a 7-point Likert scale. Besides, participants completed a standard assessment scale, with 12 items using a 5-point Likert scale.
Key findings
- Previous stopover in Dubai had a positive effect on attitudinal stopover destination brand loyalty, and this effect is strengthened when consumers have a high assessment orientation. This is because previous stopover experience gives high assessors more information to make judgements.
- Differences in destination brand image explain why the effect of a previous stopover on attitudinal destination loyalty is increased for travellers with a high assessment orientation. Specifically, for high assessors, previous visitation increases the destination brand image and, in turn, leads to more positive attitudinal loyalty.
Recommendations
Destination marketers should narrow down their segmentation of potential visitors by targeting previous visitors with high assessment orientations. To do this, surveys could be used to measure consumers’ assessment orientation. Alternatively, DMOs could identify situations and contexts that are known to attract consumers with high assessment orientations. For example, cookies can be used to target consumers sitting in front of desktop computers as assessors prefer seated decision-making, or destinations can be advertised on digital platforms that offer large numbers of travel options like Google flights, which are preferred by assessors. Targeting these high-assessment individuals helps DMOs increase marketing effectiveness, given the more favorable image and loyalty in this segment.
Researchers
More information
The research article is also available on eprints.