Sara Mohammadi; Abdolhadi Darzian Azizi; Niloufar Hadian
Abstract
Purpose: E-tourism is the most cost-effective way to communicate with the target market and to publish information. It is also an easy way for customers to buy travel products. Recent advances in mobile communication technologies are leading the way for the next generation of travel commercial ...
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Purpose: E-tourism is the most cost-effective way to communicate with the target market and to publish information. It is also an easy way for customers to buy travel products. Recent advances in mobile communication technologies are leading the way for the next generation of travel commercial applications. Location-based services are among these facilities available on the mobile platform. These services use mobile tracking techniques to provide users with relevant information at the right time, based on their current location. This study investigates the LBSs value in tourism and their effect on destination brand equity components and tourist behavior.
Method: The sample of the study totaled 210 visitors from Isfahan as one of the popular tourist cities in the world. The research hypotheses were analyzed using Smart-PLS3 software.
Findings: The research findings revealed that LBSs have positive and significant effects on destination brand image, destination brand loyalty and WOM.
Conclusion: As this paper is among the first studies investigating the positive effect of LBS on destination brand equity components and tourist behavior, the findings are beneficial for DMOs and their marketing managers. Due to their potential to create a unique travel experience as well as to personalize and tailor tourism services based on tourists' needs and personal preferences, LBS provide them with significant added value.
Niloufar Hadianfar
Abstract
Background: Destination branding and social media strategy may be a major and strong marketing and promotional tool for destination marketers. Today tourism is greatly affected by social media platforms. Besides being a major source of information, these tools can facilitate the interaction process among ...
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Background: Destination branding and social media strategy may be a major and strong marketing and promotional tool for destination marketers. Today tourism is greatly affected by social media platforms. Besides being a major source of information, these tools can facilitate the interaction process among tourists and provide them with customized and personalized offers. These activities can ultimately lead to enhanced destination brand equity.Purpose: The present study attempts to investigate the impact of social media marketing on consumer-based brand equity components for tourism destinations.Method: The sample of the study totaled 149 visitors from Isfahan. An online questionnaire and convenience sampling method were used to collect data. The research hypotheses were tested using smart PLS software.Findings: The results show that there is a statistically positive and significant impact of social media marketing on destination brand awareness, destination brand image, and destination brand quality, and destination brand loyalty.Conclusion: As the results show, social media marketing is an effective marketing tool to improve tourism marketing that in turn can enhance destination brand equity. These results are beneficial for tourism destination marketers and managers. Social media marketing as a prominent marketing tool can strengthen destination brand equity and potentially influence tourists’ behavior.