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Publication
Tourist destination loyalty: a multidimensional perspective
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This research seeks to reduce the existing gap in destination marketing knowledge by
explaining tourists’ loyalty from an integrated perspective whereby several variables
intervene in its formation. The study investigated the utility of applying the Investment
Model (Rusbult, 1980a; 1983) to reveal the processes underlying loyalty formation,
integrating the findings of loyalty antecedents from marketing and tourism literature,
namely, satisfaction, motivations, variety seeking, commitment, investment size and
income.
Moreover, to reinforce the understanding of loyalty process patterns and validate the
determinants that persist under different contexts and over the years, this research has
examined whether the destination loyalty model was invariant across different groups
(Lisbon and Faro and the Azores and Madeira, as well as, over the IATA years 2009/10
and 2010/11).
The model was validated empirically by employing a sample of 8991 questionnaires
collected for the INITIATIVE:pt1 study. Structural Equation Models (SEM) using AMOS
19 were developed to examine the relationships between the various variables in the
model.
The results indicates that motivation is influencing tourists’ satisfaction level, which in
turns, determines the level of commitment. The investment tourists need to make,
negatively influence tourists commitment and both explain loyalty from an attitudinal or
behavioural perspective. Loyalty is explained by the promise of tourists to risk new
destinations (variety seeking). The variety seeking is explained by motivations and
satisfaction, but it is not influenced by the tourist family income. The findings suggest
that the Investment Model, (Rusbult, 1980a) worked in the context of destinations loyalty.
Finally, it was found that some of the model relations exert differential effects between
the various groups being more evident on the in Azores and Madeira and on the
longitudinal perspective (2009/10 and 2010/11). This results provide an opportunity for new research to be undertaken on developing a
comprehensive destination loyalty model that not only contributes to progress in
knowledge on the processes which produce loyalty in tourists, but also to progress in
management techniques and marketing strategies to tackle such a challenge: gaining and
retaining destination visitors.
Description
Tese de doutoramento, Ciências Económicas e Empresariais, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015
Keywords
Gestão empresarial Turismo Investimento Modelos Fidelização Equações estruturais